The Times newspaper, Monday 24 February

Calories are creeping up on us, and there are increasingly few places left to hide. Recent health campaigns and Government guidelines have prompted many high-street restaurants to publish the nutrition information on their menus and now, it seems, the wine trade may be following suit.

As Sainsbury’s announced its proposal to add the calorie content to bottle labels, Mark Pardoe MW, our Buying Director, spoke to The Times regarding the move: “There is a trend away from heavy-weight wines at around 13 percent, not as low as 10. It is purely aesthetic. People want something more elegant that tastes more balanced; they aren’t interested in calories.”

And that, of course, is the point – taste. “If someone wants to watch their calories, it is better to drink less of a good wine that to switch to a healthier bad one,” Pardoe added. Consumer demand for calorie-led labelling certainly isn’t in evidence at Berry Bros. & Rudd at the moment, but what do you think? Is wine one of the few remaining unadulterated pleasures which should be left alone by health campaigners, or is this a real issue that we should be reacting to?

Read more on Kidd’s piece in today’s Times, or let us know your thoughts in the comments section, below.