8 healthier canned wines that give new meaning to the term ‘wine cooler’

Memorial Day weekend is here to kick off three months of glorious outdoor cookouts, picnics, and weekend getaways—which also means you’ll likely be imbibing more than you do the rest of the year. While beer on the beach is great and all, sometimes a girl would just rather throw back some wine, am I right?

Fortunately, canned wine is a major Thing right now, and blessedly so, as they are infinitely easier to stash in your cooler (and still a cinch to recycle). It’s also easier to keep track of how much you’re drinking with a can versus going back to a bottle to refill your glass.

There’s a lot of cool canned wines out there, but, like wine in general, not all are created equal—especially since alcoholic beverages aren’t required to include any nutritional info on their labels. Some wine brands even include additives and added sugar to make their wine taste sweeter—major buzzkill, right?

That’s why we put together this roundup of eight healthier canned wines for easy sipping (in moderation) all summer long. These brands are a cut above the rest, with minimal ingredients lists or are super low in sugar. You could say that as far as this trend goes, these canned wine brands are, well, crushing it.

1. If you’re a canned wine skeptic: On Y Va 

Here’s one that will impress even your sophisticated wine drinking friends. On Y Va is a French wine brand; the grapes are harvested in the French countryside’s Loire Valley. One can is two glasses and the ABV in their sauvignon blanc is 12.5 percent. There’s also a touch of thyme, adding another note to each sip. Each can has less than one gram of sugar—hardly anything!

2. If you want rose all day (or at least for the next hour): Yes Way Rose

Not only can you buy this canned wine at Target (major convenience points), but it also only has one gram of sugar per can. One! The ABV is 12.5 percent—right on par with other canned wines on the market.

3. If you want a lot of healthy options: The Infinite Monkey Theorem

So you want a low sugar drink, but you don’t want rose? You’re in luck with Infinite Monkey Theorem’s wine. Based in Denver, Colorado, their line of canned wines includes a red blend, white blend, rose blend, a riesling, and a sparking rose—all of which are only 2 grams of sugar per can. So much choice! You can buy it in Whole Foods in California, Colorado, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Florida, Oregon, Southern California, Texas, and Washington.

4. If you’re sharing with friends: Wine Society

Each can of wine society is four glasses of wine—so you might want to split it with your BFF. Despite tasting slightly sweet, the sugar content is blessedly low: one can of rose has 3 grams of sugar, the red has 4 grams, and the white has 6 grams (and is currently being reformulated to be lower).

5. If you’re obsessed with the Aperol spritz: Ramona 

Ramona’s canned sparkling wines are organic and completely free of weird additives or anything artificial. At 7 percent ABV, the alcohol content is lower than other canned wines. Choose between a lemon sparkling wine or a grapefruit sparkling wine.

6. If you want the lowest amount of sugar possible: Nomikai

These cute little cans of California red and sparkling rose have less than one gram of sugar per can—less than one gram! For wine, it’s virtually impossible to go lower than that. (ABV is 11.5 per can.) Now that’s worth cheers-ing to.

7. If you want a less boozy option: The Drop Wine

With an 11 percent ABV, the alcohol content in these California wine, red, and rose canned wines is a bit lower than most others on the market—making it a good choice if you’re not looking for a total buzz. Something else you can feel good about: no matter which one you go for, none of them have added sugar.

8. If you’re celebrating and want some bubbly: Vinny

Based in the Finger Lakes region of New York state, Vinny wines are a good one to go for if you’re in the mood for something sparkling. The brand has both a bubbly white and a bubbly rose, both of which were founded by sommelier and the wine director at the NoMad Hotel, Thomas Pastuszak. The sugar content ranges from eight to nine grams per can, which is slightly higher than most of the others on this list, but still not bad for a glass of wine, especially considering that it isn’t added sugar.

Make sure you’re applying extra sunscreen while you’re day drinking, which you can do with these Well+Good-approved sunscreens.