Brown-Forman Releases Carb-Conscious Wine Brand
One.6 Chardonnay and One.9 Merlot put their low carbohydrate content in their names.
Brown-Forman Wines has released the industry's first wines crafted specifically with carbohydrate-counting consumers in mind. One.6 Chardonnay and One.9 Merlot, named for their low carbohydrate content, were unveiled in New York earlier today.
The wines take advantage of a recent ruling by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) that permits alcohol beverage producers to include calorie and carbohydrate content on their labels.
According to the TTB's ruling, the phrase "low carbohydrate" can appear on any wine that contains no more than 7 grams of carbohydrates per 5-ounce serving. Most dry wines fall well below this radar; the U.S. Department of Agriculture's nutritional guidelines report that the average serving of wine contains about 0.8 to 1.8 grams of carbohydrates.
At a press conference releasing the two California wines, Andrew Varga, vice president and global brand director at Brown-Forman, credited the beer industry -- specifically Anheuser-Busch -- for starting the low-carb beverage trend with its Michelob Ultra beer. "Whether it's a short-term craze or a long-term lifestyle change, the number of people paying attention to carbs continues to grow," he said. "We must think about the consumer first and work backwards from there."
In April, beverage giant Diageo announced it will be the first company to flaunt its wines' low-carb status by placing calorie and carbohydrate content on its BV Coastal, Sterling Vintners Collection and Century Cellars brands.
Sutter Home Winery, part of the Trinchero Family Estates portfolio, also announced this week that it will make nutritional information about its wines available to the public, through marketing materials, such as bottle neck tags, and on its Web site at www.sutterhome.com/wine/nutrition.html. The carbohydrate content of Sutter Home wines ranges from 2.7 grams per 5-ounce serving for its Sauvignon Blanc to 8.3 grams per serving for its popular White Zinfandel.
But Brown-Forman -- whose other California wine brands include Fetzer, Sonoma-Cutrer, Bonterra and Jekel -- said its new bottlings are produced specifically to have lower amounts of carbohydrates than other wines. Winemaker Cara Morrison said the grapes for both proprietary wines are carefully selected and then dry fermented, resulting in lower residual sugar. The result is a tangy, medium-bodied Merlot and a creamy Chardonnay with plenty of oak. The One.9 and One.6 contain 13 percent and 12 percent alcohol, respectively.
The wines will retail for $10 and will be available throughout the United States. More than 200,000 cases have been ordered so far, according to the company. Brown-Forman also plans on following up with a Cabernet Sauvignon this summer called One.9.
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