Cut the calories in wine?

danki11

What can I add to wine to dilute it? I don't think I'm a club soda fan...don't even know what it is.
Seltzer, Pierre(?), sparkling water??
What's your favorite?

Christin09

Diet sprite or diet sierra mist adds a nice sweetness to a red wine! Delicious!

MrsSWW

Try a rose with sparkling water and ice - makes a perfect long drink!

MartiTennisMom

Gosh, I would never want to dilute a good wine. Maybe you could alternate a glass of water with a glass of wine. Or a sparkling water with lime to make it nicer.

mmsilvia

I use sprite zero & sometimes I even fill my glass with ice cubes. I have to trick myself but, my putting ice cubes in my glass I end up being able to have 2 glasses with only consuming one calorie serving

p0pr0cksnc0ke

Make a sangria!

jb_2011

Same here, I would never want to dilute my wine. Just power down on a glass of water or two before, during or after your wine.

hajjcomb

Drink a smaller amount. I wouldn't want to dilute wine either. Blasphemy!

RMinVA

What can I add to wine to dilute it? I don't think I'm a club soda fan...don't even know what it is.
Seltzer, Pierre(?), sparkling water??
What's your favorite?

They are all virtually the same thing. They are all carbonated. Sparkling water may or may not be naturally carbonated. The biggest difference is that club soda can sometimes, but not always, have a bit of sodium. It tends to to be a bit "milder" than seltzer. I used to drink "rose spritzers" (rose and club soda) all the time back in the 80's.

And I completely agree about diluting wine...don't!! Just drink a glass of water before, during and after to slow yourself down. Or pour yourself a smaller glass and just sip it slowly.

jackiebo

I agree, it's just wrong to dilute wine. A better idea is to have a glass of fizzy water with lemon sitting there to sip on in between savoring the fruit of the vine.

kitinboots

Gosh, I would never want to dilute a good wine. Maybe you could alternate a glass of water with a glass of wine. Or a sparkling water with lime to make it nicer.

Agreed. I live in france and they'd probably kick me out of the country for that!!

brit49

No diluting I just have water before and after a glass or 2 or maybe 3:laugh:

jjs22

The idea of diluting wine always seemed totally RONG to me.

But I was surprised to see that in Europe (Italy and Spain) it is quite common. Especially in the summer heat.

I think part of the bias against mixing wine in the US comes from bad (and accurate !) memories of Bartles and James Wine Coolers and similar products. They used fruit juice (?) to cover up the taste of crappy wine.

In Italy and Spain, its almost impossible to find crappy, undrinkable wine. I never did. Even the simple wines that cost less than the bottle they were in were pretty drinkable. And for $4 or so, you're sure to get something fairly decent, sometimes even remarkable. (They've got volume on their side, they export the junk, and don't have to pay morality taxes and inflated prices due to licensing.)

So part of the secret is using a wine that is good, but not too good. This summer I found a couple of new (to me) wines that I love. One is from Argentina, called Torrontes, and another is from Portugal, called Vinho Verde. Both are white. Torrontes is the name of the grape used. Vinho Verde means "green wine" (???) and I don't know if that is the name of the grape or just a foksy tradition, but in any case the wine is white. Both of these should be pretty easy to find in a wine store, and are at the low end of the price range for any wine that comes in a bottle. I've tried a bunch of different producers and only come across one Torrontes that I didn't care for.

So what to mix with ? Well, a month ago, before I started eating healthier and then dieting, I would have said some kind of clear soda. I've always thought soda was a little too sweet in general, and I could never stand diet (it makes my stomach feel bad) so I'd scan the labels and pick something at the lower end of the calorie range. What I settled on this summer was Safeway's store-brand grapefruit soda.

But now, TBH, one blanket recommendation I would make for anyone wanting to lose weight and be healthy, or really anyone at all, is to just quit the soda altogether. The only ingredient that's good for you is the water, and everything else is bad. But if you can't give it up completely, maybe you could try cutting it with wine !

For summer heat, sangria is awesome. Don't buy sangria, or you'll probably get crappy wine and corn syrup. Real sangria is made from wine (again good, but not too good) and fresh fruit and brandy (I never knew that !). In Spain I think they also use lemon soda or Sprite, but plain fizzy water is probably fine. And I think they usually sweeten it some; me, I'd use honey.

That's a great thing to do if you have friends over and want to make it a social event. Or I suppose you can order it at a bar (never tried !) but who knows what you'll get.

If I'm eating/drinking out, I usually get a glass of wine AND a glass of water. I drink a bunch of water first, and then sort of balance the amount of wine and water I drink.

Although I've seen plenty of people in Spain/Italy mix plain water with wine, for me that seemed to be going to far.

jgic2009

Spain knows what's up when it comes to diluting wine:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinto_de_verano

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalimotxo

Probably doesn't need to be said, but just in case: use diet sodas if you are looking to cut calories.

Michelle_M2002

Why on earth would you dilute a good wine? Why not just drink a smaller glass and limit it to one? I LOVE LOVE LOVE my red wine, and would NOT dilute my favorites. That's just wrong. LOL

God bless!

bcattoes

Ocean Spray Diet Cranberry juice with lime and/or lemon wedges. Yummy sangria!!