Low Calorie Wines - Do they really make sense to wine drinkers?

We have seen brands positioned as low calorie wines move their way onto wine store shelves.  We don't want wine snobbery to play into this per se but there is something not so attractive to us about these products.  It feels (rightly or wrongly) as though these low calorie wines are somehow created differently (and we could be wrong about that), kinda like Diet Coke or Nutrasweet.  The Wine Spectator today had an article about Bethany Frankel's Skinny Girl brand entering the wine market.  This would seem to be an obvious marketing play and there is certainly a segment out there for the products she has helped create.

However to us, this whole concept in wine world is not appealing.  We are looking for some purity (to a certain extent) and robust flavour in the product.  We would much rather have an amazing organic wine than a low calorie wine.  Now we understand that much of the wine we drink has been 'manufactured' with chemical additions to help boost up poor or unbalanced fruit, sulphites in the wine to preserve, among other things.  That said, we just can't get behind the idea of Diet Wine.  To be somewhat blunt, if you are concerned about caloric content, drink less at one sitting and add 20 minutes to your run the next day.  Now, we have never, ever, ever tried low calorie wines so we cannot speak to their quality, taste, or structure.  But, if low calorie = low alcohol then try drinking a nice Riesling from the Mosel, which will most likely be less than 10% alcohol.

We almost consider it to be a 'real food' argument and by that we mean, we would rather eat real food than fast food (as much as we are able to) and the same goes for wine.  We would rather drink real wine than something that has been specifically produced to modify the wine experience.  Maybe we need to try the products before we say that, but again, not appealing.....like at all.

So, what do you think?  Is this a product that might get you drinking wine (or more wine)?  Or are you more of a purist who looks down their nose at a product like this?

Let the debate begin!

Keep on drinking!

Chris & Shannon