Company Introducing Low-Carb Wines

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Brown-Forman has squeezed carbs out of its newest wines.
Even the brand names reinforce the carb-counting craze.

The spirits and winemaker expects to make a splash with its low-carb wines,
which will reach shelves nationally starting around Memorial Day.

The wines are named after the grams of carbohydrates in a 5-ounce glass. One
brand is called One.6 Chardonnay; the other is One.9 Merlot.

Normally, a 5-ounce glass of wine has 3 to 6 grams of carbs, the company
said. The low-carb brands have the same alcohol content as other wines.

Brown-Forman says it's the first introduction of low-carb wines in this
country, where carb-light products are fast becoming a staple due to the
popularity of Atkins diet and similar eating plans.

The Louisville-based company, the nation's eighth-leading wine producer,
hopes to use its head start on the competition to gain a permanent foothold
as the leader in the low-carb wine market.

"Because of the branding efforts and because of the quality of the wine, we
think we have a chance to really own this space," said Andrew M. Varga, vice
president and global brand director of Brown-Forman Wines.

Varga said the company expects at least 500,000 cases to sell in the first
year. "A high side could be you-pick-the-number," he said.

Brown-Forman is picking up on the success of low-carb beer. Anheuser-Busch
introduced the first major brand in the low-carb beer niche with its
Michelob Ultra. Other beermakers have entered the low-carb market.

Cara Morrison, the Brown-Forman winemaker in California who developed the
brands, said most consumers won't notice any difference in taste. "They have
a wonderful fruitiness to them," she said.

The low-carb wines, which will sell for around $9.99 a bottle, required
slight production modifications.

Morrison removed as much sugar as possible from the grapes during
fermentation. She blended the wine to maximize the full flavor of the grapes
while producing the low-carb count. Her goal was to "give the sensation of
sweetness without it being there," she said.

One.6 Chardonnay features melon and citrus flavors. One.9 Merlot has smooth,
spicy flavors with hints of blackberry and cherry fruit. Brown-Forman put
nearly $1 million into research and development.

The company plans to unveil the two brands with a $5 million advertising
blitz in national newspapers and magazines. It intends to follow up with a
low-carb One.9 Cabernet Sauvignon this summer. It hopes the brand names
catch on. Varga said it may become as common to order a One.6 Chardonnay as
it is to order a Jack Daniel's or Southern Comfort - two of Brown-Forman's
most popular spirits.

"We think this is a chance to go out with a unique name and some support
behind it to potentially badge a wine brand and see if that doesn't have
some great traction," Varga said.

A California wine retailer was more skeptical. Gregory Condes, who works in
wine sales with K&L Wine Merchants in San Francisco, said low-carb wines
would be a curiosity among wine drinkers.

"It will be more of a novelty," he said. "If it has any success whatsoever,
it's going to rely purely on the marketing strategy, not because the market
is really asking for it."

Condes said Brown-Forman was getting on the low-carb bandwagon and "really
stretching it a bit too far." He said he has never had anyone ask for a
low-carb wine.

"The innate characteristics of wine itself already has healthy attributes as
it is," he said. "They are not interested in the carbs as much."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp.../low_carb_wine

"Snapper" > wrote in message
news:T87pc.48992$xw3.2928254@attbi_s04...
> Company Introducing Low-Carb Wines
>
> LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Brown-Forman has squeezed carbs out of its newest wines.
> Even the brand names reinforce the carb-counting craze.
>
> The spirits and winemaker expects to make a splash with its low-carb
wines,
> which will reach shelves nationally starting around Memorial Day.
>
> The wines are named after the grams of carbohydrates in a 5-ounce glass.
One
> brand is called One.6 Chardonnay; the other is One.9 Merlot.
>
> Normally, a 5-ounce glass of wine has 3 to 6 grams of carbs, the company
> said. The low-carb brands have the same alcohol content as other wines.
>

<snipped>

Sounds like the old "marketing by lying" technique. According to the carb
tables I consulted, red and white wines typically have 2g or less of carbs
per glass.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

> Sounds like the old "marketing by lying" technique. According to the carb
> tables I consulted, red and white wines typically have 2g or less of carbs
> per glass.

Saw a billboard recently that something along the lines of: all light
beers are low carb; drink ours because it tastes better. I believe it
was in response to a competitors ad touting that their beer was low carb.

--Charlene

--
Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature. Life
is either a daring adventure or nothing. -- Helen Keller

--

email perronnelle at earthlink . net

On Fri, 14 May 2004 14:25:54 -0500, Steve Wertz
> wrote:

>On Fri, 14 May 2004 18:08:23 GMT, Charlene Charette
> wrote:
>
>>> Sounds like the old "marketing by lying" technique. According to the carb
>>> tables I consulted, red and white wines typically have 2g or less of carbs
>>> per glass.
>>
>>Saw a billboard recently that something along the lines of: all light
>>beers are low carb; drink ours because it tastes better. I believe it
>>was in response to a competitors ad touting that their beer was low carb.
>
>Miller Lite probably, which has always less carbs then some of the
>beers specifically being marketed as such.
>
>-sw

and tastes like [your favorite animal urine here].

your pal,
panther