Yes, nutritional labels fit on wine bottles

The Gazela vinho verde found space – why can’t others?

Almost everyone – including the federal government – has come to the realization that wine needs ingredient and nutritional labels. But there is still resistance from wine, because that’s the way wine works.

Hence, this post, and the picture at the left: A nutritional label on the Gazela vinho verde.

I contacted the Gazela importer to find out why the producer (one of Portugal’s biggest) added the label. If I hear back, I’ll update the post.

But it’s easy to figure out why: Just 87 calories, which is about three-quarters of a typical glass of wine (and fewer than light beer); almost no carbs; and no fat. My only complaint is that the alcohol content (a measly 9 percent) is stuck up in the upper left hand corner of the back label; it should be next to the nutrition box.

So, yes, Gazela and parent Sogrape have lots of ulterior motives to add the information. Obviously, they’re going after the younger, hard seltzer demographic, which sees that beverage as a more healthy form of alcohol than wine – less calories, less carbs, and so forth. So the box is letting those consumers know that Gazela is just as “healthy” – fewer calories, even. In this, vinho verde has always struck me as the perfect wine alternative for all those hard thises and hard thats.

So, given wine’s resistance to nutrition and ingredient labels, I don’t much care how many ulterior motives Gazela and Sogrape have. Results matter, and this is one more crack in the anti-label wall.