Drinking less this January? This low-alcohol sauvignon blanc makes it easier
For those counting calories or monitoring their alcohol intake this month, Matua's light white wine helps ease the sacrifice.
If you’re aiming to make your January a little drier without cutting out wine entirely, consider swapping out one of your standard wines for a lighter, low-alcohol version. There are many options nowadays that can compete in flavor with more spirited contenders..
The best performers tend to have one thing in common: they are typically unoaked white wines from regions that are considerably colder than the average wine producing zone. The first winery to produce sauvignon blanc in New Zealand, Matua offers a perfect example in its “lighter” form. It clocks in at 9% alcohol by volume and offers 30% fewer calories per serving than their standard sauvignon blanc without compromising on the wine’s flavor.
Colder regions make the best low alcohol wines because their frigid climate minimizes their fruit’s potential ripeness. Lower ripeness translates to lower grape sugar and higher acidity in each grape, and often contributes a leafy, vegetal quality to the wine’s final flavor profile. This greenish flavor tinge can be unwelcome in richer wine styles, like red wines or chardonnays, but is spot on for brighter whites in general and sauvignon blanc in particular, a grape sought out for its tastes of green herbs and citrus fruits.
This wine delivers those flavors in spades, along with a snap and tang reminiscent of a cold Granny Smith apple. The most noticeable compromise when tasting Matua’s two sauvignon blancs side by side is not in flavor, but rather in their texture and finish. The higher alcohol in the standard cuvée gives that wine more noticeable weight on the palate, and also extends the persistence of the wine’s aftertaste in a more pleasing way. But for those counting calories or monitoring their alcohol intake this month, these sacrifices are a small price to pay.
Matua “Lighter” Sauvignon Blanc
$12.59, 9% alcohol
PLCB Item #96021
Sale price through 1/28 – regularly $14.59
Also available at:
Kreston Wine & Spirits in Wilmington, $14.99, krestonwines.com
Total Wine & More in Claymont, $14.99, totalwine.com
Joe Canal’s in Marlton, $14.99, marltonjoecanals.com