How Many Calories In A Bottle of Wine

how many calories in a bottle of wine

Do you want to know what kind of wine has fewer calories? What contributes to the calories in wine? Want to know how many calories in a bottle of wine?

When you come home after a long day, the idea of well-cooked pasta, a glass of merlot and your favorite TV show sounds enticing.  For centuries, wine has been associated with good times and relaxation.

You often hear about calories in hard liquor and soda.  Almost everyone knows about their low nutrition content and how they lead to obesity among regular consumers. Beer belly and other terms are often used to describe weight gain associated with regular alcohol consumption.

If you are a wine enthusiast, you know those glasses of wine add up over time. The right kind of wine of the right quantity can be part of a healthy balanced diet. There are very few articles on the internet today that talk about the right amount of wine and leading a healthy lifestyle.

Let’s find out more about calories in a bottle of wine and what kind of wine to pick the next time you go wine shopping guilt-free.

What adds calories to wine?

Every drink or food we consume has calories. It gives our body the energy and nutrients we need.  When you consume more calories, you are getting more nutrition than you need and gain weight.

Calories in a bottle of wine are determined by the following factors:

  • Grapes with high sugar content have more calories than the ones with less sugar content.
  • Warm region grapes have high sugar content and hence make higher alcohol wine.
  • Higher alcohol content means high calories.

calories to wine

Calorie-count in different types of wine

  • Red Wine

US Department of Agriculture Nutrient Database states that red wine on an average has 125 calories with less than 1 gram of protein, 4 grams of carbs and 15 grams of alcohol.

Red wines range from 550-660 calories per bottle. Carignane, Gamay and Lemberger are on the lower end of 550-600 calories.

Popular reds like Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Pinot Noir are a little higher up the calorie count with 614-619 calories per bottle. Zinfandel and Burgundy have high alcohol content and low sugar with 640-650 calories.

The exact calorie count can vary from brand to brand and also the grapes used to make it. Red wine in a recommended 5 ounce is suggested for a daily dose of antioxidants.

  • White Wine

Sweet whites like Moscato d’Asti and Riesling have low alcohol and high sugar content with less than 600 calories.  Dry and Full Bodied Whites like Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay has 604-615 calories per bottle.  Gewurztraminer has 832 calories making it the white wine with most calories.

White wines have fewer calories than red with high ABVs.  Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio are good choices over sweet wines like Riesling, Moscato.

  • Rosé

Rosé is a light wine with low sugar and alcohol content with 530-550 calories. It has fewer calories than most reds and white wines.  It is one of the lighter wines best enjoyed within the first three years.

This dry fruity wine has around 11 percent ABV.  This can be a good alternative to red wine in summer when it’s warm.

  • Champagne

Champagne has low alcohol content but they have more calories because they are fermented for the second time to add more sweetness to it and the bubbles. Each serving contains 95 calories.

Most champagne bottles have 560-570 calories. In 2007, journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry mentioned that champagne has high antioxidant content and polyphenols like red wine.

  • Dessert Wine and Cooking Wine

Dessert wines have the most calories because of high sugar and alcohol content.  Most of them range between 700-1100 calories.  It has two times more calories compared to a regular wine.  However, if you are substituting this instead of a fried appetizer or a sugary dessert then it is just the same amount of calories.

  • Cooking Wine

Cooking by substituting oil with wine for any dish enhances its flavor. It loses most of its alcohol content.  As a result, you won’t get its health benefits and anti-oxidants. It is still a better option as it has low caloric count.

calories in a bottle of wine

Advantages of wine

  • It is one of the healthiest alcohols with high nutrient content.
  • A study conducted by University of London has shown that procyanidins found in red wine commonly are helpful to keep the blood vessels healthy and improves the life span. When wine is made traditionally fermenting grapes for weeks, it extracts all the procyanidins from the skin and seed of grapes.
  • Moderate consumers of wine show 30% lower risk of having Type 2 diabetes, heart attack, and cataracts (compared to beer drinkers) than those who don’t consume wine moderately.
  • Wine in moderation is known to reduce to chance of stroke by 50 percent.

Here are some fun comparisons of a bottle of wine and your favorite meals in calories

A bottle of red wine is equal to 14 Jaffa cakes

A bottle of white wine is equal to chicken with cashew and eggs fried rice

While it may be a smart choice to skip dessert for a glass of wine, if you indulge in about 3 glasses of wine before dinner (or while cooking), during dinner and after dinner watching TV, you might be consuming anything between 400 to 1000 calories in a bottle of wine.

We all know how that contributes to our waistline. It is important that we make smart choice when picking a wine and also drink in moderation to get all the amazing health benefits it has.

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