A. Good question. There are quite a few Web sites that have information on this subject. As with much of the Web, you have to decide for yourself how accurate each site is.

I've checked several (try Google, "calories in wine") and they seem to agree that dry red wine has about half the calories (roughly 500 per bottle) of fortified wines, which can run as high as 1,100 calories per bottle. This makes good sense when you consider that about 85 percent of wine is water; the rest, as far as caloric impact is concerned, is either alcohol or carbohydrates (sugar).

The amount of alcohol in a dry wine depends on the amount of sugar in the grapes at harvest (measured in brix). Riper grapes make wines with either higher alcohol or significant residual (unfermented) sugar.

When evaluating dry red wines, those with high levels of alcohol (let's say 14 percent and above) will have slightly more calories than those with lower levels of alcohol; however, in a 4- or 5-ounce glass of wine, the difference is slight.

One site (www.weightlossforall.com) posits 83 calories in a 4-ounce glass of dry red wine; 100 calories in a glass of sweet red wine (presumably something such as late-harvest zinfandel).

Fortified red wines (such as Port) are highest in calories (170 for 4 ounces) as they have both high alcohol and sugar. So my advice is to stick with dry red wines from cool climates, such as pinot noir from Sancerre or Germany, if you want to consume the least calories. And keep it down to one or two glasses a day.

Paul Gregutt answers questions weekly in the Wine section.

He can be reached by e-mail at wine@seattletimes.com.

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