Wine...A Diet Drink

Today it was beautiful outside, one of the first beautiful Spring days which means for me a perfect excuse for spending the day going from one outdoor restaurant to another sampling wine and food. I started out at the new Corner Restaurant on 93rd and Columbus, and had a really flavorful roasted tomato soup with a hint of cumin and a manchego grilled cheese sandwich for brunch which I paired with a refreshing blanc de blanc sparkling wine from France. Anticipating more uninhibited caloric intake later in the day because I had plans to go to Red Hat Bistro in Irvington for drinks at their rooftop bar and then dinner, I decided that I needed to practice damage control to see where I could cut calories. I decided that I would have grilled to fish for dinner and limit myself to one glass of wine if possible because wine would simply add on many empty calories. I just knew that the glass of sparkling set me back about 300 calories, and a glass of wine would be at least 350-400 calories...After all it's common knowledge that mixed drinks are on average from 500-900 calories and a pina colada has more calories than a Big Mac. So I went on calorie counter to check out how little I'd have to eat if I wanted to indulge in the second glass of wine, and to my amazement and sheer delight I found out that wine is a great choice for a low calorie beverage! For a wine with 0% to .5% RS (Residual Sugar - your Cabs and Chardonnays, the types of wine that I drink) a red is only 127 calories per 5oz glass and a white is 120 calories. Even better, a 4oz glass of Champagne is a mere 78 calories! WOW I could have a bottle of champagne for less calories than a margarita! This is music to my ears because I absolutely love wine. Wine is lower in calories than most juices and all soda! This is my new diet drink...so I've done the research and with it's health benefits (high in antioxidents) and low calories I've come to the conclusion that wine should be a part of all balanced and healthy diets!