Carbohydrates In Tisdale Wine

California’s Tisdale winery creates affordable wines that cover most of the spectrum of flavors, from pinots and merlots to sweet table wines. Like all wines, Tisdale’s offerings serve up carbohydrates and other nutrients.

Merlots

Tisdale’s merlot doesn’t differ from the same flavors served up by other wineries: each of these wines contain that familiar dry finish and bitterness characteristic of your typical glass of merlot. The dryness in Tisdale’s merlot is attributed to the fact that it does not contain much sugar, which explains the wine’s content of only a single gram of carbohydrate per 4 ounce single-glass serving. This single gram, which adds to the merlot’s overall 95-calorie content per glass, is derived mainly from the natural content of the grapes used in Tisdale’s distilling process.

Cabernets

Cabernet sauvignon, another red wine from Tisdale, contains even less carbohydrate than merlot: only .8 grams per 4 ounce serving, which contributes to the cabernet’s overall caloric content of 80 grams per one glass serving. Some wine drinkers consider cabernet to be slightly more acidic -- you might say is has more “bite” than other, smoother wines -- that pairs well with red meats. Like merlot, the less-than-a-gram carb content is a result of the distilling process.

Sweet Reds

For those desiring a more smoother finish and something a tad sweeter on the palate, Tisdale offers up a Sweet Red, a table wine, which by U.S. federal legal definition contains less than 14 percent alcohol per bottle, that contains 14 grams of carbohydrates per standard 4 ounce serving. The sweet taste and high carbohydrate content comes from residual sugars not removed during distilling and sometimes additional fruits are added to the grapes during the creation process, and is often paired with desserts or cheeses whose consumption will of course contribute to more carbs ingested.

A Word of Caution

Just because a wine may contain more or less carbohydrates due its sugar content, the wine, whichever is preferred by the drinker, will still maintain its alcohol content. While it’s true the more stout wines contain less alcohol by volume than a sweet red, generally speaking 12 percent versus 14 percent, respectively, the alcohol is primarily responsible for the caloric content of one glass. According to the authors of “Nutrition: Concepts & Controversies,” there are 9 calories per gram of alcohol, so those on specialized diets or with alcohol sensitivities should take note.