May I Have a Glass of Wine Coach?

Whether or not it’s healthy to drink wine depends heavily on how much you’re drinking — and, as it turns out, on the type of wine you choose. Most people know that red wine is the healthier option compared to white or sparkling. It’s especially healthier than a carb-heavy pint of beer.

Although virtually all red wines have almost no residual sugar, pinot noir typically has a lower initial sugar level before fermentation, resulting in a wine with less alcohol and fewer calories than, say, your average cabernet

Dry reds are, overall, the healthiest type of wine, so you can’t really go wrong with any of them. But if you prefer Pinot noir, then you’re at the top of the health game. However, other dry reds, such as merlot or cabernet, can be enjoyed as well. They have high levels of resveratrol, which will keep your heart healthy.

Sweets wines, such as white Moscato or some Rieslings, have two bad things going for them: They’re white wines, so they have no healthy antioxidants, and they’re sweet wines, so they’re loaded with sugar. This means they have a lot of carbs, too.

Pinot grigio is a white wine, and white wines aren’t made the same way as reds. White wines are fermented without grape skins, and the grape skin is what adds all of those healthy antioxidants to the wine with more antioxidants than all the other varieties. That's because the grape skins aren’t removed during fermentation. The antioxidants the dark skins provide, such as procyanidins, have been linked to health benefits including heart disease protection, and possibly longevity.

For the record, researchers note that wines from southwest France and Sardinia tend to have higher levels of procyanidins. On average, wines from these two areas had five times more procyanidins than wines from Spain, South America, the U.S., and Australia.