Just What's in Your New Year's Bloody Mary?

The Washington Post on Friday warned its readers in a Page 1 story about all the boozy calories they would be ingesting on New Year's Eve. Personally, I’m of the school that resolutions take effect on New Year’s Day at the earliest, and even then not before the last bowl game ends. Certainly no one at the party I attended last night was worrying about how many calories they were drinking. (Note to self: Check Facebook ... ) But if it seemed silly for my paper of record to be worrying about counting calories with New Year’s libations, it provided an easy hook for a story about an interesting and important topic.

The story, by business reporter Lyndsey Layton, was well written and balanced, noting calls by some to require nutrition labeling on alcoholic beverages and how the issue is a stalking horse for political rivalries between the distilled spirits lobby and the wine and beer lobby (as if those groups were homogenous - HR 5034, anyone?). Those of watching our weight might want to know how many calories were sipping in our New Years bloody mary, and diabetics of course need to watch their carbs. (I’ve never seen a drunk diabetic, but I imagine it’s not a pretty sight.)

I can think of many arguments against nutrition labeling. Wine labels are already crowded with warnings, and I am well aware that my wine consumption is not helping my weight (and unfortunately those reputed benefits for my blood pressure and cholesterol seem elusive). If, like me, you earned your physique by lifting weights 12 ounces at a time, you’re probably resigned to it. And those of us who “drink to forget” certainly don’t want to be thinking about calories.

But nutrition labeling for alcohol is related to another issue the Post article did not touch on - ingredient labeling. Randall Grahm at Bonny Doon has started listing the ingredients used in his wines, including cultured yeasts, sulfur, and fining agents. The list is short, because he doesn’t use many of the 200 or so additives that the federal government allows in wine.

I would like to know what goes into the wine I’m drinking. I like to think I can tell when a wine is “industrial” or “manipulated,” because it tastes dull and lifeless. But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I really like wines made with Velcorin. In any event, I’d like to know what I’m drinking - because a lot of us are not drinking the “artisan” “hand-made” wine the advertisements would have us think we’re consuming. You know, the stuff that's "just fermented grape juice."

What do you think? Post a comment here and tell me whether wine and other alcoholic beverages should have nutrition or ingredient labels. Or are we better off drinking and forgetting?

And on that cheery note - Happy New Year, everyone!

Comments

[Les Hubbard]

Dave,

The Post article listed some of the problems with nutrition labeling, especially with spirits where serving size raises many issues as 1.5 ounces may not be a very credible standard. Perhaps better with wine at 5 oz. and beer with 12 oz. per serving. Indeed back labels on wine are already far too busy.

However, I'd love to see wine ingredient labeling to know what the heck goes in the wine I'm drinking. Many wine drinkers claim to be bothered by sufites - so why not list total at time of bottling. I'd drop the stupid warning label about alcohol consumption as I don't plan on getting pregnant or operating a bulldozer while drinking my wine.

What I'd really also like to see is the percentage of each varietal contained in any wine blends or otherwise. Just call me a traditionalist, who agrees with Randall Graham's approach to wine making, minus the whole biodynamic thingy.

Les Hubbard

[Dave McIntyre]

Good points, Les. On serving size though, the lack of a standard is not unique to alcohol. How many times have you bought chips or some snack from a vending machine thinking you were only going to get X grams of fat or Y mg of sodium, only to notice that the tiny bag holds two servings?

Part of the wine industrys dislike of additional disclosure is the difficulty of getting the labels approved - changes on a label from year to year require TTB approval. That takes time and is a hassle. And thats one reason we have the fudge factor in alcohol labeling.