Why Skinnygirl Wines Are A Bad Idea

Recently I read a news item on WineSpectator.comthat reality TV star and former Real Housewives cast member Bethenny Frankel is launching a wine label called Skinnygirl. Oh no, just what we need, another wine brand pandering to women.
Bethenny plays off the success of her Skinnygirl Margarita, which clocks in at 100 calories per five ounce serving (with or without salt). The average margarita at your favorite bar can be anywhere from 350 to 750 hefty calories, thanks to a premix or limeade, triple sec and tequila. Skinnygirl comes premixed, alcohol included, so all you have to do is chill it, crack open the screw cap and pour. What’s not to like? This pre-made margarita flew out the doors of retailers.
Bethenny continued to build the Skinnygirl brand, with a White Cranberry Cosmo at less than 100 calories and Skinnygirl Sangria, with 132 calories per five ounce serving. Her “new girls,” as she calls them, are a lineup of three wines, a Rosé of Syrah and Grenache, a white blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio and a Syrah-based red. All have 100 calories per five ounce serving and 12 percent alcohol and will sell for $15 a bottle.
I understand why the Skinnygirl Margarita is so popular. The calorie savings are enormous. I bought a bottle and poured myself a cocktail, over ice. The flavor is what you’d expect in a margarita, tart with lime and that kick from tequila. While it is not a complex concoction, it is a fast cocktail.
But the thought of Skinnygirl wines drives me crazy. Why? Two reasons. One, most five ounce pours of wine have about 128 calories, 25.6 25 calories per ounce, according to the USDA. There’s no huge calorie savings here.
Wine’s calories come from the alcohol and sugar content. Most wines are dry, which means there’s no sugar in them. Sometimes wine tastes sweet, but that’s usually due to the ripe fruit flavors, which we perceive as sweetness.
There are also wines that are made to be sweet, like dessert wines and port. These wines are concentrated, with about 50 calories per ounce. But the standard serving of port or sweet wine is much smaller, at two to three ounces, which is about 100 to 150 calories or so. That’s equivalent to or less than any dessert you’d eat. So the Skinnygirl low calorie premise just doesn’t work.
The second reason is more serious for me, that this is yet another wine brand marketed to women, presumably because we all want a lower calorie beverage and that we want fun, not complex wines.
But I’m a wine drinker, not a “female” wine drinker. Would anyone make a Skinnyboy wine? I don’t think so. Why do we need a special wine brand, especially when the calorie savings are about 25 calories per glass? According to most recommendations, women should not drink more than one glass of wine a day.
“I’m not a wine snob,” Bethenny tells WineSpectator.com. Neither am I. What I don’t like are brands that approach selling wine to women differently from men.
Low calorie wines are not an original concept. In 2005 wine giant Beringer launched a brand called White Lie. The initial release, a Chardonnay, was billed as being lower in calories and alcohol. According to this press release, White Lie has 97.4 calories per five ounces and 9.8% alcohol. The wine was marketed as being what women want, something easy and simple with fewer calories. At $10 per bottle, it had a lower price point than Skinnygirl wines. But I can’t seem to find any White Lie wine on the Beringer site or in a Google search for sale. Hmmm. Maybe that approach didn’t work out.
I wasn’t crazy about the White Lie wines either. To me it felt like pandering to a stereotypical female audience.
That’s why I think Skinnygirl wines are a bad idea. Wine is intimidating enough. Women have fought hard to be considered equals when it comes to wine, whether professionally or in our private lives. Many of us get handed the wine list at the restaurant, which is great. Would we order a Skinnygirl wine?
Kudos to Bethenny for creating the Skinnygirl Margarita and for it being wildly successful. Brilliant idea. I’m sure the wine will also fly off the shelves, as most things tied to a celebrity usually sell well. But when it comes to wine, this is not a label that we need. It just fuels the stereotype about women and wine, and it’s not a pretty one.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-orlin/skinnygirl-wines-bad-idea_b_1293582.html

Pampanga is an important province of the Philippines slated to be the next business and tourism center of the country. Already international traffic prefers the Clark International Airport and tourists find Clark Freeport Zone easier to get around than Manila. Safety, low crime rate, no traffic and low pollution levels all contribute to making Pampanga Angeles City Clark Freeport Zone a preferred destination for local and international tourists.

Highly recommended beach resort in North Luzon for company outings and family retreats is most frequently visited hotel in Clark Pampanga because of beautiful view and good outdoor facilities for swimming, picnic and barbecue.

Even tourists and business travelers staying in hotels in Philippines Angeles Pampanga take time off from nightlife, bars and other city entertainment to enjoy a relaxing day in leisure at famous beach resort in Clark Freeport Pampanga. Foreign and local tourists visiting Clark enjoy a sense of safety while savoring the laidback lifestyle offered by famous resort hotels like Clearwater in Clark.

Families traveling out of town go to the north to get away from Manila to unwind, relax and swim with friends and children. Highly recommended holiday spot and vacation destination this summer in the north is Clearwater Beach Resort in Clark. Clark is adjacent to Pampanga’s Angeles City which is just 70 minutes from Manila and 25 minutes from Subic.

For reservations, comments and inquiries,

Clearwater Resort & Country Club
Creekside Road corner of Centennial Road,
Central Business District, Clark Freeport Zone,
Pampanga, Philippines 2023

Tel: (045)599-5949 0917-520-4403 0922-870-5177

Manila Sales Office
3003C East Tower, Phil Stock Exchange Center,
Exchange Rd Ortigas Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
(632) 637-5019 0917-520-4393 Rea or Chay

http://www.ClearwaterPhilippines.com

Email: Inquiry@ClearwaterPhilippines.com

Getting to this hotel in Clark Philippines
After entering Clark Freeport from Subic, Manila, Dau and Angeles City, proceed straight along Clark’s main highway MA Roxas, passing Clark’s largest wine shop called Clark Wine Center on your right, continue to bear right making no turns at all, go past Mimosa Leisure Estate on the opposite side of the road, you will hit a major intersection. Go straight and the road becomes Creekside Road. YATS Clearwater Resort and Country Club is on your right just 200m down. Traffic in Clark Philippines is light so it should be quite easy for get to this hotel in Clark Philippines.

For inquiries and bookings, click here to contact Clearwater Resort now

Wedding couples looking for wedding reception venues and beach wedding venues can log on to this Philippines Wedding Venue web site for free information and assistance:

http://www.PhilippinesWeddingVenue.com

While in Clark, it might be a good idea to enjoy an evening of wine-and-dine in the fine dining Yats Restaurant and Wine Bar that features an award winning 2700-line wine list. It is located in Mimosa Leisure Estate of Clark Freeport Zone. For more information, visit http://www.YatsRestaurant.com

YATS Leisure Philippines is a developer and operator of clubs, resorts and high-class restaurants and wine shops in Clark Angeles Philippines http://www.YatsLeisure.com

While in Clark, one might as well add to the itinerary a visit to the famous Clark Wine Center, the largest wine shop in Philippines which offers over 2000 selections of fine vintage wine from all wine regions, vintages spanning over 50 years covering all price ranges.
http://www.ClarkWineCenter.com

Looking for famous tourists spots, places to visit and see, relax and unwind in Clark, Pampanga, Philippines? You may want to check out these sites also:

http://www.LondonPubClark.com

http://www.HotelClarkPhilippines.com

http://www.ClarkPhilippines.com

http://www.YatsWineCellars.com

For jobs and business investment opportunities in the Philippines please visit http://www.yilp.com