Understanding Calories in Wine

I used to drink a half-bottle to a full bottle of wine every night. Despite this delicious habit, I had to cut down because of the calories in wine.

There Are Calories in Wine (eek!)

Depending on the wine, one glass of wine can range between 92 – 300 calories. The range has to do with alcohol content, inherent sweetness of the wine, and serving size.

The following information will give you some familiar examples of wines and how many calories they have by the glass. I’m not advocating you drink only low-calorie wine, but it never hurts to be familiar with the calorie count.

Wine contains 92–300 calories per serving.

Understanding Calories in Wine

Alcohol is Very High in Calories Per Gram

The highest calorie wines tend to have the highest alcohol content. Alcohol has 7 calories per gram versus carbohydrates (sugar), which have 4 calories per gram. This means some sweet wines have less calories than some dry wines! Dry wines are commonly considered to range from around 11% alcohol to about 14%. However, a quick check of alcohol percentages of wines at the grocery store shows that many dry wines often exceed 15%. A standard 6 oz glass of dry wine with 15% alcohol has 175 calories.

Super high alcohol sweet wines, like Port, Tawny Port & Banyuls, are a double whammy of sugar-carb calories, plus alcohol calories. Neutral grape spirits are used in Port wine to halt the yeast from eating the sugars, leaving the sweetness in the wine. Port has 20% ABV and around 100 g/L of residual sugar. A standard 2 oz glass of port has 103 calories.
 

Sugar in Champagne & Sparkling Wines

Champagnes and sparkling wines have added sugar and alcohol. The added amount is called “le dosage,” and it’s added during the champagne making process. The dosage can range from nothing (aka “Brut Nature” or “Brut Zero”) to sweet (aka “Doux”) with up to 50 g/L of sugar. The laws on the Champagne region in France require the wines to be no more than 12.5% alcohol. However, non-Champagne bubbly ranges from very light, at around 9% alcohol, to high, at 15%. For a standard 5 oz pour, Champagne ranges from 124 calories (Brut Zero) to 175 calories (Doux).
 

Wine Calories Comparison Chart

Wine Calories From Least to Most (6 oz pours)

German Spatlese Riesling (Dr. Hermann “H” 2009)

110 calories, bottle 495 calories

Slightly Sweet Lambrusco (Lini 910)

140 calories, bottle 630 calories

Cabernet Sauvignon from France

160 calories, bottle 720 calories

German Auslese Riesling

160 calories, bottle 720 calories

Cabernet Sauvignon from California

175 calories, bottle 788 calories

California 16% Zinfandel (Bob Biale)

190 calories, bottle 855 calories

Australian Shiraz (Mollydooker The Boxer)

190 calories, bottle 855 calories

Chateau d’Yquem

270 calories, bottle 1215 calories (note: standard serving size is only 2 oz which is 90 calories)

Ruby Port

310 calories, bottle 1395 calories (note: standard serving size is only 2 oz which is 103 calories)

Tawny Port

320 calories, bottle 1440 calories (note: standard serving size is only 2 oz which is 106 calories)

Calories in Wine Come From Carbs and Alcohol

Wine is mostly water, and alcohol, carbohydrates, and trace minerals(1). The carbohydrates come from the residual sugar left in the wine. Dry wines have less than 3 grams/Liter, and sweet wines typically range from 20-150 g/L (some can have up to 300 g/L!). A late harvest dessert wine may have about 150 g/L of sugar compared to Coca-Cola at 111 g/L and Maple Syrup at 700 g/L(2). To determine the total calories in a bottle of wine, add the calories of alcohol with the calories of carbs.