How Many Standard Drinks in a Bottle of Wine
Choose a bottle or can, or enter your own size and strength, to see how many standard drinks it holds in four countries and in UK units.
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How to use this tool
Work through these steps to count a drink in under a minute:
- Open the Bottle or can dropdown. Choose the option closest to your drink, such as wine 750 ml 12.5%, beer 12 fl oz can 5%, or spirits 750 ml 40%.
- If your bottle or can is not on the list, choose Custom drink.
- Type the volume in millilitres into the Bottle size (ml) box. A 1.5 litre bottle is 1500 ml.
- Type the strength into the Strength (% ABV) box. Read this from the label, because two bottles of wine can carry different percentages.
- Open the Country dropdown and pick your country from the 21 listed.
- Read the headline, for example “5.3 standard drinks (United States).” Below it, the tool shows the grams of alcohol, the UK units, and the grams in one standard drink for your chosen country.
The headline number is the count most people need. The other figures show how that count was reached, which helps if you want to compare countries or check the arithmetic yourself. When your entry is correct, the Copy link button lets you copy the link to the page.
To compare countries, leave the bottle as it is and change only the Country dropdown. The table under the result also lists the same bottle in the standard drinks of four countries.
How many standard drinks are in a bottle of wine?
A standard 750 ml bottle of 12.5% wine holds about 5.3 standard drinks in the United States. The tool works out the grams of alcohol in the bottle, then divides that by the 14 g in one US standard drink.
The formula is grams of pure alcohol = volume in ml × strength (% ABV) ÷ 100 × 0.789, where 0.789 is the density of ethanol in grams per millilitre. For this bottle, 750 × 12.5 ÷ 100 × 0.789 gives 74 g, and 74 ÷ 14 gives 5.3.
Other wine sizes follow the same rule. A 375 ml half bottle of 12.5% wine is 2.64 US standard drinks, a 1.5 litre magnum is 10.6, and a 187 ml single serve is 1.32.
How many standard drinks are in a bottle of vodka?
A 750 ml bottle of 40% vodka holds about 16.9 US standard drinks. Spirits are much stronger than wine, so the count per bottle is far higher at the same size.
The formula gives 750 × 40 ÷ 100 × 0.789, which is about 237 g of pure alcohol, and dividing by 14 gives 16.9. A US standard drink is 1.5 fl oz of 40% spirits, which is where the 14 g figure comes from. A 1.75 litre handle at 40% comes to 39.4 standard drinks.
How many standard drinks are in a 12 oz can of beer?
A 12 fl oz (355 ml) can of 5% beer is 1.0 US standard drink and 1.75 UK standard drinks. The same can counts differently in each country because each country defines its standard drink with a different amount of alcohol.
For the US figure, 355 × 5 ÷ 100 × 0.789 is about 14 g, which matches one US standard drink. A 500 ml can of 5% beer comes to 1.41 US standard drinks. A 330 ml bottle of 5% beer is also on the dropdown, so you can select it directly.
Is a standard drink the same in every country?
No. The Country dropdown lists 21 countries, and each sets its own grams of alcohol for one standard drink. The United Kingdom uses 8 g per unit, Canada 13.45 g, and Australia 10 g. The WHO reference is 10 g.
The same 750 ml bottle of 12.5% wine gives different counts depending on which figure you use:
| Country | Grams of pure alcohol in one standard drink | Standard drinks in 750 ml of 12.5% wine |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 14 g | 5.28 |
| United Kingdom | 8 g | 9.25 |
| Canada | 13.45 g | 5.5 |
| Australia | 10 g | 7.4 |
A standard drink is a counting unit used for tracking. It is not a measure of safety, and this page makes no health claim.
How many standard drinks are in common bottles and cans?
A 750 ml bottle of 12.5% wine holds 5.3 US standard drinks, 7.4 Australian ones or 9.25 UK ones, because each country counts a different amount of pure alcohol per drink. The table gives the count in four national standards for eleven common bottles and cans, as the tool calculates them.
| Bottle or can | US (14 g) | UK (8 g) | Canada (13.45 g) | Australia (10 g) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wine, 750 ml, 12.5% | 5.28 | 9.25 | 5.5 | 7.4 |
| Wine, 375 ml, 12.5% | 2.64 | 4.62 | 2.75 | 3.7 |
| Wine, 1.5 litres, 12.5% | 10.57 | 18.49 | 11 | 14.79 |
| Wine, 187 ml, 12.5% | 1.32 | 2.31 | 1.37 | 1.84 |
| Sparkling wine, 750 ml, 12% | 5.07 | 8.88 | 5.28 | 7.1 |
| Beer, 330 ml, 5% | 0.93 | 1.63 | 0.97 | 1.3 |
| Beer, 12 fl oz can, 5% | 1 | 1.75 | 1.04 | 1.4 |
| Beer, 500 ml, 5% | 1.41 | 2.47 | 1.47 | 1.97 |
| Spirits, 750 ml, 40% | 16.91 | 29.59 | 17.6 | 23.67 |
| Spirits, 1 litre, 40% | 22.54 | 39.45 | 23.46 | 31.56 |
| Spirits, 1.75 litres, 40% | 39.45 | 69.04 | 41.06 | 55.23 |
How this tool works and where the numbers come from
Grams of pure alcohol = volume in ml x strength (% ABV) / 100 x 0.789 g/ml. Standard drinks = grams / the grams in that country’s standard drink, using the figure the national health body publishes. UK units = ABV x ml / 1,000.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
How many drinks is one bottle of wine?
It depends on the size and strength of the bottle. Sparkling wine at 12% in a 750 ml bottle comes to 5.07 US standard drinks, a little under the 5.28 for 12.5% still wine of the same size.
What if my bottle is not in the dropdown?
Choose Custom drink, then enter the volume in the Bottle size (ml) box and the percentage in the Strength (% ABV) box. The tool calculates the count from those two numbers.
Does a higher strength always mean more standard drinks?
For the same bottle size, yes. Grams of pure alcohol rise in direct proportion to the percentage, so a 14% wine holds more standard drinks than a 12.5% wine of the same volume.
Is the standard drink count a safe limit?
No, and it is not meant to be. The count is a unit for tracking alcohol, and it does not tell you whether a drink is safe. This page makes no health claim about any amount.
Why does the same bottle give different counts in different countries?
Each country defines a standard drink as a different amount of pure alcohol: 14 g in the US, 8 g in the UK, 13.45 g in Canada, 10 g in Australia. The bottle holds the same alcohol, so the smaller the standard drink, the more of them it holds.
Related tools
- Standard drink calculator: use it when you want a count for a drink that is not a bottle or can.
- Standard drink size chart: use it to compare standard drink sizes across common serving types.
- Glasses of wine in a bottle: use it when you want to know how many glasses a bottle fills.
- Alcohol unit calculator: use it when you are working with UK units.
- Drink equivalent calculator: use it to compare one drink with another.
- Alcohol conversion calculator: use it to convert between alcohol measures.