How Many Calories in a Glass of Wine

In a calorie conscious world with calories on menus in restaurants having just been made to be the law. It is no wonder it might leave us thinking about the calories in wine. It is pretty rare, however, to find wine bottles with the nutritional facts printed on the label - so how are we supposed to know what calories we are drinking if the information is not there?

In today's article, we are going to discuss the calories in wine and how many are in a standard glass of wine and within the average bottle, so read on to become more aware of what you are consuming and you can make a conscious decision on which wine to pick up and drink next time you go to enjoy a glass or two.

How Many Calories in a Glass of Wine?

Most labels on wine bottles will give you the alcohol content but little else - why is this, when the rest of our food and drinks we buy contain the nutritional information somewhere on the packaging, then we have the alcohol industry which lags behind. This is an area a lot of people end up consuming many calories and unknowingly just how many they are drinking too.

Most dry table wines are normally between 11-14% alcohol volume and 2.3 units of alcohol. With a medium 175ml glass of wine, you are looking at about 120 to 160 calories per glass.

All alcohol in wines including; red, white and rosé as well as sparkling wines; prosecco and champagne are made from natural starch and sugar and a large glass of wine could have the same amount of calories as an ice cream sundae. A bottle of wine on the other hand could set you back at around 680 calories - this is a large number of calories to consume on top of your daily meals too.

A large amount of research has been done that has shown that weight gain and obesity have been repeatedly linked to alcohol intake and partly because consumers do not know how much and what they are consuming when they have a drink. This is why it is important to encourage people and drinkers to be more mindful about what they drink and overall strike the right balance between having a good time and maintaining a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

Empty Calories

Calories from alcohol are considered ‘empty calories’ which means they don’t add any nutritional value to your body or benefit us in any way. Over time drinking too much alcohol can lead to weight gain and start to affect your appearance.

According to dietary guideline limits, empty calories fall in the same category as saturated fats and added sugars and should only take up about 20% of your daily total calorie intake.

If you want to cut down on your calorie intake when it comes to drinking wine, you can choose a lower calorie alternative and if you intend on having a number of glasses, make sure you alternate between drinking wine and water to stay hydrated.

How to Make a Healthier Choice

The sugar content in wine is a result of what is left behind by the grapes after they have been through the fermentation and winemaking process. Grapes contain naturally occurring sugars and to turn the grapes into wine the process causes the natural sugars to break down into the alcohol. Not all of the sugars are converted and those that are left over remain in the final product as ‘residual sugars’. The amount of residual sugars is what determines how sweet a wine is, so if you have a sweet tooth and prefer a sweeter wine, then expect to have a more calorific drink.

If you want some tips on what to look for in order to make healthier choices when it comes to wine then follow these tips. Firstly, opt for dryer wines, dryer wines have less sugar content than dessert wines and dessert wines are sweeter and are higher in sugar, calories and carbs - so perhaps avoid sweeter wines if you are wanting to have a healthier diet and lifestyle. For more info on which wine is the healthiest then read our blog post here.

If you look for wines that say “Brut Nature’ on the label, ‘Brut’ means dry in French and is the driest wine you can get. These wines have no added sugar and have less than 2% sugar in them and around 2 or 3 grams of carbs per serving, which is not bad going.

Calories Are Not Always the Enemy

Do remember that calories are not always the enemy - they are simply what gives us energy. Calories only become a problem when we continually enjoy too many calories compared to the energy we are using.

It is always important to remember we are all human and we are allowed to indulge and let our hair down at the weekend or on special occasions. As long as everything is in moderation we can enjoy the things we like guilt free.

Some Health Benefits of Wine

Science suggests that red wine is good for our hearts, it has a high concentration of polyphenols and vitamin E is great for keeping bloody and bloody vessels clean - which is essential in preventing heart disease long term.

According to the World Health Organisation, wine can give you some medical benefits, it contains a powerful antioxidant that reduces LDL cholesterol levels. This is the bad cholesterol that health professionals recommend reducing for optimal and long-lasting health.

Prosecco contains antioxidants and has been proven to be good for your blood flow and many do not know that it is even as healthy for your heart as red wine. Prosecco helps to strengthen blood vessels and prevent blood clots, it is said that drinking one to three glasses of prosecco a week could be good for your memory.

Wine actually has the ability to make us happier, not only because wine lovers enjoy drinking it, but also because it can release endorphins in our brain - the natural substance in our body that generates to make us feel good and that can help to avoid stress and anxiety.

ThinK Wine

At ThinK Wine you will not have to second guess the calories you are consuming, we always let our consumers know the calorie information on our wine and prosecco and all of our products are low in sugar and calories and all our products are vegan too.

Each 100ml serving at ThinK Wine is 62 calories for our vegan Prosecco and our vegan Sparkling Rosé wine too, all with zero carbs and 0.7g of sugar per serving too. This is nothing compared to our competitors. A standard glass of regular prosecco has around 85 to 90 calories in it and around 1.5 grams of sugar.

Stopping to enjoy a glass of wine can have a number of benefits and we have discussed how it has the ability to lift one's mood, which is another benefit to just liking the taste. Whether you are calorie conscious or not, you should treat yourself to the finer things in life and let yourself enjoy the beverages you like to drink.

Remember to check out our whole collection of Sparkling Rosé and Prosecco on our website. Our products can be bought as single bottles, cases of six as well as in minis too - great if you want to try our products before committing to a full case, then the minis are a great way to do this. Our products can make great gifts too and we even do gift cards if you are unsure which product to treat someone to, a gift card is a great alternative!