When you bottle feed your baby, your entire life revolves around ounces. I don’t think I really understood what a fluid ounce looked like before I had Henry – and was constantly filling up bottles.
The other day, I was writing a freelance piece on what qualifies as a ‘healthy’ amount of wine. Alcohol can actually reduce your risk of heart disease and some other ailments if you drink in moderation and if you aren’t predisposed to other diseases and if your body responses well to alcohol (that’s a lot of ifs, so the conclusion of my piece as that it’s probably better to just focus on diet and exercise if you want to be healthier… dammit).
According to the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans, if you drink, you should stick to one drink a day if you’re female and two a day if you’re male. What counts as ‘one drink?’
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12 fluid ounces of regular beer
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1.5 fluid ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits
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5 fluid ounces of white/red wine
When I read that, I thought, “Damn, only 5 ounces of wine? That’s not a lot!” So I decided to see exactly what 5 ounces of wine looks like in a variety of glasses.
I may be mistaken (sorry, not a sommelier!), but from left to right: a pinot noir glass, a shiraz glass, a champagne flute, and an inexpensive, standard wine glass.
First, here’s five ounces of wine.
That looks so wrong. Don’t worry, I scrubbed that bottle so thoroughly after this experiment!
In the two large red glasses:
Oh man. So tiny.
In the other glasses:
The container you drink out of sure does make a difference, doesn’t it? This may explain why I’ve been waking up with a slight hangover – I prefer those bigger glasses and definitely overfill them. Now I know the imaginary ‘line’ that I should be aiming for when I savor my favorite reds.
Henry is going to stick to his favorite variation of white for now. 
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{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }
I worked in an upscale restaurant (with the big fancy wine glasses that I love too) so I have always been aware of just how small an accurate pour is, but I’m still known to overpour every once in awhile
I wonder if it feels like you are drinking more when you drink the same amount out of a small glass (because it’s full) versus a large glass (which looks nearly empty). That’s an experiment I’ll have to try…
I guarantee you will feel like you are drinking more out of the smaller glasses! Psychology is huge in satiety.
I actually eat my dinner off of smaller plates for this reason. The same amount of food on a large plate never feels filling enough but on the small plate I am stuffed!
That’s such a good idea and a simple switch to make!
I just made a few labeled wine glasses with glass etching stuff (yeah, I don’t know the technical term). Totally used the bottle to measure the ounces, too.
It looks like not enough.
Oh man, that is some serious perspective and definitely explains quite a few hangovers!
Interesting experience, I will have to pour more carefully from now on!
I use small glasses and it really helps! Sometimes if I just want a bit, I use a port glass which is a little over an ounce. Then I can have 2-3 refills and be satisfied. Psyching myself out for the win!
I served and bartended for a bunch of years, so I knew how small the serving sizes are. But just like our food servings, our wine servings are also larger than what they need to be to get the health benefits of drinking. A lot of the restaurants I worked at gave a 6 oz portion, and you could elect to get a 9 oz glass of wine. I’d say more people had the 9 oz glass than the 6 oz.
Fun fact: Most restaurants have some sort of etching, usually with the restaurant’s name, on their wine glasses. The bartenders have a certain spot on this etching that they use to judge when they should stop pouring. At Seasons 52, there’s a 52 on the glass– I don’t know if they stop just below it, halfway up or what. But that’s how the bartenders judge a “full pour.”
Also, many restaurants use more upright (thinner) wine glasses so they appear more full. It’s the same psychological affect of drinking from a short, fat glass (appears to be less liquid) and a tall, skinny glass (appears to be more liquid).
Been a victim of the big glass fill up on many occasions. And it doesn’t help when the husband pours the wine into mason jars because he doesn’t want to grab the wine glasses from the cabinet. oiye. headache this morning.
I would much rather have a small amount in a big glass I can swirl around. I can’t stand those little cheap glasses despite looking like more! Love that you used a bottle to measure – ha!
Haha this is so funny! I love that you used his bottle instead of a measuring cup!
So weird how different they look! I think I’d prefer a smaller glass, so it looks like more. A good mental trick!
My sister-in-law has been counting calories to lose a couple pounds, and she told me at lunch yesterday that she finally decided to measure her wine. Turns out, she’s been using My Fitness Pal’s calorie count for 8 oz of wine but only pouring herself about 4! For months!
I felt SO bad for her.
This is also true for portion sizes on plates. It’s easier to practice moderation when you use a smaller appetizer for your meals instead of a large buffet plate. I tend to want to put more on the larger plates because it doesn’t seem like there is enough when in actuality there is!
Wow, it really looks small in those big glasses!
Gosh, that’s disappointing!
Thanks for the different size glasses! I like multiple glasses of wine so I stick with a small glass and pour as though it is a large glass. I get two glasses with staying around 6oz!
That’s kinda sad haha. I’ve definitely drank wine out of a solo cup before… gotta keep it classy
Now we have a bunch of stemless wineglasses that I’m in love with, but I can’t say I’m not guilty of filling them up a little too far!
Really good post! A lot of people think that they can fill up the huge wine glasses and that counts as one serving. Many times, it is up to 4 servings!
I promise the red will taste better if you use the larger glass. You can swirl it properly, which improves the flavor. That’ll help with satiety, too. Also, good choice on the Mark West. It’s probably my favorite pinot for under $20.
So…. moral of the story:: drink wine from a baby bottle or champagne flute. Looks like a lot more
Oh, I thought it was 5 glasses. Damn. It’s also unfair that men can have two drinks. Boo on that!
I think the men/women difference is because of body weight and stuff. I’m also pretty sure I heard somewhere that there’s an enzyme or something the breaks down alcohol, and men have more of it than women do, or it takes longer to kick in for us.
Love this post, actually just the other night I decided to have a glass of wine after work. I have the small cheap glasses which is A-OK with me because they look like more. IF I had the big ones I would for sure over pore. From your post looks like I pored pretty much 5 oz! Crazy thing though is I had a head ache after- I think I was extremely dehydrated.
Pretty sure that’s part of what the lines in red solo cups are for, measuring ounces. But most people don’t drink wine in red solo cups, so… nice to see what it looks like in other glasses. And the size of the container definitely makes a difference. I have several water bottles that are different sizes and the same amount of water looks different depending on the bottle.
I don’t plan on ever drinking because I don’t trust myself to not go overboard if I like something (slightly addictive personality issue), but I don’t mind if others drink–so long as they’re not drunk. I had one drink once and didn’t like it, and just decided to not continue drinking. I’ve seen too much damage from too much alcohol, and I don’t want to risk causing that damage myself. Easier to not start than it is to stop.
Aw man this makes me sad
I knew I was over-pouring, but this is super eye-opening.
I also like using the big glasses for the red wine. I buy my glasses at Dollar Tree…. they are thick glass ~ and they have all the sizes ~ great to get if you’re having a party and want them all to match
Love all of Henry’s clothes. The pic with him looking at the veggie tacos is too cute!! Like ~ let me at that food!! Ha!
I definitely pour large glasses of wine, but I also prefer the smaller wine glasses, so hopefully this balances me out a little bit
Hahaha. This same thing happened to me. Why do I feel drunk? Why do I feel hungover? I also used a baby bottle to measure it.
The wine guy in the course I took said you should pour to the widest part of the glass – it’s interesting that in the “proper” wine glasses (the first 2) that’s exactly 5 oz! Although his statement had to do with allowing the wine to breathe.
you are too funny putting wine in the baby bottle !
Wow!!! What a great visual. Thanks for sharing. The baby bottle measure sure cracked me up as well;)
Ha! 5 ounces my butt. That’s like when they say I can only have 3/4 cup of Cocoa Puffs. Serving sizes are lame
I have actually weighed my alcohol before on a food scale to see if I was overpouring my shots. Umm..whoops!
Oh Dear…I had a sneaking suspicion my cherished, nightly glass of wine was considerably more than 5 oz. My husband (the comedy genius) likes to call it ‘Stay at Home Mom Size’.
Lol!!!
So sad! This is totally why I use a tiny glass so I feel like I am drinking more wine.
It might also explain my extra pounds : )
I love big wine glasses but it does make it harder to know exactly where you’re at!
Interestingly, it would seem us Brits are allowed to drink more than you! 5 fl oz is approx 150ml – our daily limit for women is 2 – 3 units (in theory a 125ml glass of wine is one unit).
The other problem is the strength of the wine. New world wine (NZ being my favourite), is often 13% – 14% on average, though it doesn’t taste it, this is discernably stronger than your average French or Italian wine which average closer to 10%.
A 175ml glass of 13.5% wine is 2.4 units – but 10% wine is 1.8 units. But that’s complicated maths to do over a wine list!
In medical school it’s drilled into us that if we’re doing a patient history and they say they drink a few glasses a day, be sure to ask the patient how big that glass is…
Funny! As an ER nurse, we always assumed about double the amount of alcohol a person admitted to drinking (for daily drinkers, not social drinks). So “I have about 3 beers a day” always translated to a 6 pack as far as we were concerned.
Love this post! Pinning it!
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