How Many Calories in a Glass of Wine?

The amount of calories in an alcoholic beverage depends on its serving size, and the drink's alcohol and carbohydrate content.

First, let's establish a baseline by using the standard drink concept.

What's a Standard Drink?

A standard drink in the United States is any drink that contains about 14 grams of pure alcohol (about 0.6 fluid ounces or 1.2 tablespoons). Below are U.S. standard drink equivalents. These are approximate, since different brands and types of beverages vary in their actual alcohol content.

Note: Remember, all of these drinks contain the same amount of alcohol (14 grams), and therefore create the same level of intoxication, even if the percentage by volume is different.

Carbohydrates in Standard Drinks

Note: These are averages.

• Regular Beer: 13 grams
• Light Beer: 4.5 grams
• Ale: 7 grams
• Stout: 20 grams

• Malt Liquor: 8 grams

• Dry White (e.g. Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay): 3 grams
• Off Dry (e.g. Reisling, Chenin Blanc): 5 grams
• Muscat: 8 grams
• Dry Red (e.g. Syrah, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon): 4 grams
• Red Bordeaux: 4.5 grams
• Red Burgundy: 5.5 grams
• Red Zinfindel: 4 grams

• Dry Champagne or Sparkling Wine (e.g. Extra Brut, Brut): 4.5 grams
• Sweet Champagne or Sparkling Wine (e.g. Asti Spumante): 10 grams

• Dry Sherry: 12 grams (fortified, 3.5 oz. serving)
• Port: 14 grams (fortified, 3.5 oz. serving)
• Sweet Late Harvest Wine: 20 grams (unfortified, with 13% alcohol by volume minimum, a standard drink is close to 5 oz.)

• Amaretto: 42 grams
• Bailey's Irish Cream: 18 grams
• B & B Benedictine: 13 grams
• Campari: 20 grams
• Coffee Liqueur (e.g. Kahlua): 40 grams
• Cointreau: 25 grams
• Creme de Cacao: 37 grams
• Creme de Cassis: 28 grams
• Creme de Menthe: 35 grams
• Grand Marnier: 17 grams
• Kirsch: 15 grams
• Ouzo: 27 grams
• Sambuca: 28 grams
• Triple Sec: 27 grams

• All distilled spirits contain zero carbohydrate grams.

For more information on the nutrients contained in alcoholic beverages, check out the USDA's National Nutrient Database.

Calories in Standard Drinks

Pure alcohol contains 7 calories per gram, which is almost twice the calories of carbohydrate or protein (both contain about 4 calories per gram), but its not quite as bad as the calories in fat (9 calories per gram). Therefore, a standard drink that contains 14 grams of alcohol, will contain at least 98 calories. The difference in calories between these drinks is the result of their carb level.

• Regular Beer: 150 calories
• Light Beer: 116 calories
• Ale: 126 calories
• Stout: 178 calories

• Malt Liquor: 130 calories

• Dry White (e.g. Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay): 110 calories
• Off Dry (e.g. Reisling, Chenin Blanc): 118 calories
• Muscat: 130 calories
• Dry Red (e.g. Syrah, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon): 114 calories
• Red Bordeaux: 116 calories
• Red Burgundy: 120 calories
• Red Zinfindel: 114 calories

• Dry Champagne or Sparkling Wine (e.g. Extra Brut, Brut): 116 calories
• Sweet Champagne or Sparkling Wine (e.g. Asti Spumante): 138 calories

• Dry Sherry: 146 calories (fortified, 3.5 oz. serving)
• Port: 154 calories (fortified, 3.5 oz. serving)
• Sweet Late Harvest Wine: 178 calories (unfortified, with 13% alcohol by volume minimum, a standard drink is close to 5 oz.)

• Amaretto: 266 calories
• Bailey's Irish Cream: 170 calories
• B & B Benedictine: 150 calories
• Campari: 178 calories
• Coffee Liqueur (e.g. Kahlua): 258 calories
• Cointreau: 198 calories
• Creme de Cacao: 246 calories
• Creme de Cassis: 210 calories
• Creme de Menthe: 238 calories
• Grand Marnier: 166 calories
• Kirsch: 158 calories
• Ouzo: 206 calories
• Sambuca: 210 calories
• Triple Sec: 206 calories

• Brandy / 80 Proof Gin, Vodka, Whiskey etc.: 98 calories
• 86 Proof Gin, Vodka, Whiskey etc.: 105 calories
• 90 Proof Gin, Vodka, Whiskey etc.: 111 calories
• 94 Proof Gin, Vodka, Whiskey etc.: 116 calories
• 100 Proof Gin, Vodka, Whiskey etc.: 125 calories

So, the winner in terms of least amount of calories and carbs in a standard drink is 80 proof hard liquor, followed by table wine, champagne, beer, dessert wine, and last of all liqueurs.

But if you're into hard liquor, this of course does not hold true for mixed drinks or cocktails which can be extremely high in carbs and calories. A Mai Tai contains 14 grams of alcohol and 15 carb grams in a 2 oz. serving (standard drink). That's 158 calories. But a typical serving can be as much as 5 oz., a whopping 395 calories and 38 carb grams. Are there any alternatives? Of course, Baja Bob's Drink Mixes are a good choice, they're low in calories and carbs.

For the wine drinkers out there, you might want to know how many calories are in a bottle of wine. A standard 750ml bottle is about 25 fluid ounces, which contains 5 standard drinks of table wine. Compare, the calories in a bottle of wine below to 5 (5 oz.) servings of a Mai Tai above, that's 1975 calories. Ouch!

• Dry White (e.g. Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay): 550 calories
• Off Dry (e.g. Reisling, Chenin Blanc): 590 calories
• Muscat: 650 calories
• Dry Red (e.g. Syrah, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon): 570 calories
• Red Bordeaux: 580 calories
• Red Burgundy: 600 calories
• Red Zinfindel: 570 calories

Clearly, dry white wine has the least amount of calories. But are there any diet or light wines available? Wines can be made light by decreasing either one or both sources of calories, that is alcohol or sugar. Most commonly, the calories are reduced by picking the grapes very early, before full maturity, or by removing the alcohol in a finished wine through a vacuum distillation process.

A typical example is White Lie by Beringer Blass (which is marketed specifically to women). Beringer Blass developed a unique technique for making this Californian wine that involved harvesting the grapes earlier in the picking season when they have lower sugar content (brix) and fermenting the juice all the way to dryness before blending. This technique, dubbed Early Season and trademarked by Beringer Blass, results in a wine that tastes crisp and fruity but is also low in sugar, naturally making it low in alcohol and calories.

A more recent example is Slender Wines by Chateau Thomas Winery of Indiana (that's right Indiana!). This line of diet wines (white, blush and red) was recently included in the 81st Annual Academy Awards Oscar Baskets, and at $10 per bottle, it's very high-end indeed. Its claim to fame: "The World's Only Naturally-Sweetened Sugar-Free Wine". Slender Wine is sweetened with Zerose, a natural non-caloric sweetener that has no calories, no carbs, no fats and apparently no aftertaste (or just taste?). But, at a healthy 12% alcohol it's at least 100 calories per standard serving. This wine is the brain child of Dr. Charles Thomas, a no-longer practicing Obstetrician-Gynecologist, and is targeted at women (surprise!) and diabetics.

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