How many calories are in a glass of wine?
A 175 ml (6 fl oz) glass of 13% red wine is about 150 kcal. A 250 ml pour from the same bottle is about 215 and a small 125 ml glass about 105. Nothing changed but the glass.
Per portion
| Portion | Calories | Protein | Carbs | Fat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small glass, 125 ml, 12% white | ~95 kcal | 0.1 g | 1 g | 0 g |
| Standard glass, 175 ml, 12% white | ~135 kcal | 0.2 g | 1.5 g | 0 g |
| Standard glass, 175 ml, 13% red | ~150 kcal | 0.2 g | 1 g | 0 g |
| Large glass, 250 ml, 13% red | ~215 kcal | 0.3 g | 1.5 g | 0 g |
| Large glass, 250 ml, 14.5% red | ~230 kcal | 0.3 g | 1.5 g | 0 g |
| Flute, 125 ml, 11% brut prosecco | ~80 kcal | 0.1 g | 1.5 g | 0 g |
| Dessert wine, 75 ml, 13.5% | ~95 kcal | 0.1 g | 9 g | 0 g |
| Bottle, 750 ml, 13% red | ~640 kcal | 0.8 g | 5 g | 0 g |
What changes the number
Alcohol, first. Per 100 ml (3.5 fl oz), a dry wine runs roughly 60 kcal at 9% ABV, 75 at 12%, 85 at 13% and 95 at 15%. That spread is the single biggest variable on the shelf, and the ABV is printed on every bottle even where a calorie panel is not.
Sugar, second, and smaller than people expect. Sugar carries 4 kcal per gram against alcohol’s 7, so sweetness loses the argument. An off-dry 9% Riesling with 30 g of sugar per litre works out near 65 kcal per 100 ml; a bone-dry 14.5% red is nearer 90. The sweeter glass is the lighter one. Sweetness only takes over at dessert-wine concentrations, where 100–150 g of sugar per litre adds 40–60 kcal per 100 ml — which is why those are poured at 75 ml.
What does not change it: colour, tannin, vintage, organic or biodynamic production, “no added sulphites”. Red and white at the same strength and sweetness are within a few kcal of each other. Wines sold as “skinny” are lower-alcohol wines, usually 5.5–9%, and the saving comes from the ABV; de-alcoholised wine at 0.5% is around 10–25 kcal per 100 ml.
Where it fits in a deficit
Wine supplies no protein, no fibre and no satiety, so its calories arrive without doing any of the work that food of the same size would. Half a bottle most evenings is about 320 kcal a day, or 2,200 a week, which is more than most deliberate deficits can absorb.
Alcohol also has an effect on how the body handles fuel that is separate from its calories, set out on the beer page. Guidance on low-risk drinking limits is published nationally and differs by country, so use your own; this page is only about energy content.
The practical version: a glass counted into the day behaves like any other 150 kcal. The same glass poured after the day is already closed is what quietly cancels a calorie deficit.
The pour you are actually given
A 750 ml bottle holds six 125 ml glasses, four and a bit 175 ml ones, or three 250 ml ones — so a large glass is a third of a bottle, and three finishes it.
Pub and restaurant pours vary, and home pours vary more: a wide bowl makes a generous pour look modest, and few people measure. Two large glasses of 13% red is about 430 kcal, where two small ones are 210. Same wine, same evening, 220 kcal apart.
That is why “a glass of wine” is not a portion. A 25 ml measure of spirit is at least defined; a glass is whatever the hand holding the bottle decides.
Figures are typical values and vary by variety, size and preparation. General information, not medical advice.