The Lovely You Chardonnay NV 2021 is a $7.99 Trader Joe’s exclusive non-vintage produced for them by Winepress Vintners. This Chardonnay is one of the trendy fitness wines, low calorie, reduced sugar, and alcohol, with no carbs or fat. This summer, Trader Joe’s also had the Slim Vine Light wines, also “diet” wines.
A family-owned winery produced the Slim Vine wines from the Monterey AVA who also had its own low-calorie wine called Sunny with a Chance of Flowers. We reviewed the Slim Vines Sauvignon Blanc and that wine had 85 calories, 9% alcohol, 3.4 g of carbs, and less than 4 G of protein.
The Lovely You Chardonnay NV 2021 has 100 calories, 10% alcohol, and 0 carbs and protein. The Slim Vine was a 2020 vintage, while the Lovely You is non-vintage. It looks like two different methods were applied to create these Lo-cal wines.
The Slim Vine wine was better than expected; any reduced bad thing product is seldom as good as the real thing. But the Slim Vine was a pleasant surprise; while not a rich as a classic California Chardonnay, it was an enjoyable drink. The back label says the Lovely You should be medium-bodied and complex, which would be a nice trick for a lo-calorie wine.
Trader Joe’s does not mention how they reduced the calories and the alcohol or why this Lovely You Chardonnay NV 2021 non-vintage wine. So, the tasting portion is where we determine if a “diet” wine is worth the trade-off.
The Lovely You Chardonnay NV 2021 Tasting Notes
The color is pale butter yellow; this Chardonnay may have seen some oak aging. The nose is attractive; there is lemon, baked apple, peach, pear, melon, and a bright floral edge. The Lovely You Chardonnay NV 2021 is medium to light-bodied and not as complex as the back label suggests.
This low-calorie Chardonnay tastes like buttery apple pie, but not sweet, melon, green apple, and slightly hard-edged spice. The mid-palate adds a salty sensation, nectarine, and guava. The acidity is well-balanced.
I wouldn’t say I liked this Chardonnay on the first sip, but as the wine opened up, the combination of flavors and textures started to do their magic.
The Summary
- The Lovely You Chardonnay NV 2021 is a pretty decent and tasty $7.99 Chardonnay.
- I may not have as much body as I prefer in a Chardonnay, but it does not drink or taste like a “diet” wine.
- I am a fan of the richer style of Chardonnay, so take my criticism as a preference and not a fault.
- It is possible to drink healthy without diminished pleasure.
