Happy New Year's Eve! And nothing helps ring in the New Year like hugs and kisses and a toast of the bubbly stuff at midnight. For those concerned about the calories that go along with those toasts at midnight, be aware that there is a difference depending upon what you are drinking.
There are a great many websites devoted to telling you how many calories there are in a glass or a bottle of champagne, sparkling wine, bubbly, or whatever you choose to imbibe. Unfortunately, many of them cannot agree on the calorie counts and they almost all lump all kinds together, which is unfortunate.
When it comes to the bubbly stuff, there are several types based on the amount of added sugar that each has. The generally accepted definitions are as follows for French Champagnes and European sparkling wines:
- Brut Nature (or Brut Zero): Has no added sugar to help along the secondary fermentation.
- Brut: The amount of added sugar is less than 1.5% of the volume.
- Extra Dry: Added sugar is no more than 2% of the volume.
- Dry: Can contain up to 4% added sugar.
- Demi Sec (or Semi Seco): Up to 8% added sugar.
- Doux: This type can have up to 10% added sugar.
Unfortunately, American sparkling wines have no legal definition of what constitues what when it comes to types of sparkling wines, so you just have to hope there is not more added sugar than you might expect.
The amount of added sugar does indeed add calories to the bottle, and therefore, to each glass. A 750 ml. bottle of Brut Nature with no sugar will run about 500 calories, while a bottle of Doux can run more than 650 calories. That is a 30% increase in calories from the one with the most added sugar (Doux) to the one without any added sugar (Brut Nature).
To add a little more information to ponder, another popular drink is called a champagne cocktail. The traditional champagne cocktail adds a sugar cube soaked in Angostura Aromatic Bitters to the glass of bubbly. This type of cocktail will add an additional 6 grams of carbohydrates and more than 30 calories to each glass you consume. This constitutes a signfificant increase in calories and carbohydrates over just drinking the bubbly by itself.
So, if you intend to ring in the New Year with a resolution toward lower calorie counts, your choice of beverage to toast with can make a big difference. And this is especially true if you do not stop at one glass.
_________________________________________________________________________ Start off the New Year right by remembering NOT to drive if you have been drinking. A death, an injury, or a DUI is no way to start the New Year.
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