We all love a good glass of wine, it’s refreshing, it’s delicious, and it goes great with food. But one thing that not many people talk about is the nutritional content of a glass or bottle of wine.
How many calories are in a typical glass of wine, how many carbs, what’s the typical alcohol content of a bottle of wine? All these questions are things that I know a lot of people think about, but not a lot of people know the answers.
Wine, and all alcohol, aren’t required to have nutrition facts on the label of the bottles for one simple reason. And no, it’s not because the numbers are insignificant or that not enough people care about the nutritional facts related to wine, it’s because alcohol is regulated by a different agency than typical food and beverages.
Alcohol is regulated by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) which does not require nutritional labeling on the products they regulate. Traditional food and beverages, that people consume on a daily basis for nutritional value and to stay healthy, are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, and this agency does require nutritional labels on all the items that they regulate.
Wine and alcohol do actually have quite a bit of calories and other ingredients in them that would be helpful to know about, but because the TTB doesn’t require manufacturers to put this information the labels, alcohol companies don’t want you to know how many calories your consuming with each cocktail or glass of wine… that is unless they are purposely promoting a product as being low-calorie.
Nutritional Information for Wine
Knowing that it’s not required for wine and alcohol producers to put the nutritional information on each bottle that they sell, many people are curious about how many calories, carbs, and other nutritional related values, are actually in these beverages that adults consume.
Because of that, we decided to put together a rundown of the average amount of calories and other nutritional facts related to wine.
These numbers are not exact for every bottle or glass of wine, but will give you a general idea of the nutritional facts that go along with the wine you drink.
How Many Calories in a Glass of Wine?
A typical bottle of wine is 750 mL with a single pour being around 5 ounces per glass. The average bottle of wine contains between 600-700 calories with a single 5 ounce pour being between 120-150 calories.
The calories found in bottle of wine will vary depending on the sugar content of the wine as well. A sweeter wine is going to have more calories than a dry wine, but on average you can expect that both red and white wines will fall somewhere into these numbers.
How Much Sugar is in a Glass of Wine?
When it comes to sugar content of your wine, this is going to vary depending on if you’re looking at sweet or dry wines.
A 5 ounce pour of a dry wine should have less than 1g of sugar while the bottle itself should have less than 10g of sugar total. Sweet wines and dessert wines can sometimes have up to 30g of sugar per bottle and around 8g of sugar per glass.
The sweeter the wine, obviously the more sugar content you’re going to get, but all wine is going to have some residual sugars in it as grapes naturally contain sugar.
If you’re worried about your sugar intake when drinking wine, just know that the average can of soda (like Coke or Pepsi) has about 40g per 12 ounces.
Does Wine Have Carbs?
The amount of carbs in your wine also has to do with the amount of sugar found in the wine. If you’re drinking a dry wine you’re unlikely to be consuming any carbs because of the small amount of residual sugar in the bottle.
If you’re drinking a sweeter wine, that contains more sugar, then the carbohydrate content can be anywhere for 0-4 grams.
Again, for comparison, a 12 ounce can of Coke has about 35g of carbs in it while a can of light beer has around 6-7g of carbs.
So, if you’re counting your carbs and want to avoid having too many, a glass of dry wine, like a Cabernet Sauvignon, is going to be a better choice than a glass of beer, or a sweeter wine.
What is the Average Alcohol Content (ABV) of Wine?
ABV, or alcohol by volume, lets you know what the alcohol content of your wine is. The higher the alcohol content, the less wine it will take for you to start to feel inebriated.
The average bottle of white wine tends to have a slightly lower level of alcohol than a red wine. White wines typically have an ABV of between 11-13% while red wine has an ABV of between 12-15%.
Keep this in mind when you’re going out for a wine tasting. Those glasses of wine can creep up on you quickly if you’re not careful, or don’t have enough to eat. And there’s nothing worse than getting too intoxicated while trying to enjoy your day of wine tasting.
Wine Nutrition Facts
Remember, not all wine is created equally, and some wines will have varying levels of calories, sugars, carbs, and ABV depending on the type of wine and the sugar content.
The world is becoming more aware of what we put into our bodies, so knowing the nutritional facts related to our food and drinks is essential to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Understanding the nutritional value of your next glass of wine may help you make a more informed choice when it comes ordering that extra glass!