How many glasses in a bottle?

by Robin Garr | April 18, 2025

How many glasses of wine can you get out of a bottle? This can be a useful number to know, but one thing is certain: It’s not as simple as it seems.

This magic number can be critical if you’re deciding how much wine to buy for a party, or just calculating if you can have a second glass or save part of the bottle for another day. And that’s just the beginning of the list of variables that apply to this equation. How big is a bottle? How big is a glass? Are you dining in a fine restaurant and expecting a generous pour? Or are you the head sommelier calculating your profit margin on a more stingy portion?

Substack Chat

How many glasses of wine do you usually get from a standard bottle?

For many years, the standard wine and liquor bottle in the United States was one-fifth of a gallon,known as a “fifth.” According to legend, in older days this amount was considered just right for an individual to consume with a meal. Those may have been immoderate times, but everyday wines in those days were relatively low in alcohol.

In the 1970s, U.S. liquor regulations went metric, getting in step with the rest of the world by substituting the now-standard 750 milliliter bottle for the old fifth. This almost imperceptible shrinkage reduced the contents from 25.6 to 25.37 ounces.

By that measure, a standard bottle provides just about five glasses if you put 5 ounces in a glass, which is a standard serving according to the National Institutes of Health. You could make it four glasses if you generously splash a little over 6 ounces in each.

We don’t recommend the giant-glass strategy employed by the gent in this image generated with the assistance of ChatGPT by OpenAI.

In any case, since good wine deserves plenty of room in the glass, many wine lovers take no more than four or five glasses out of one bottle, leaving plenty of headroom to swirl and sniff the wine.

But some restaurants, fearing that consumers will think they’re stingy otherwise, pour a generous four glasses per bottle. Unless they’re hoping to improve profits in these troubled times, that is, and squeeze one more glass from the bottle with six short pours.

Today’s featured wine, a good-value Sauvignon Blanc from Southwestern France, is so good and so affordable in the lower to middle teens that you’re not likely to worry about tightening your ration to save a buck.

Famille Dubard 2023 Coeur du Mont Sauvignon Blanc is classified as a site=WLP” target=”_new”>Vin du France (formerly Vin de Table), the lowest classification for French wine. But in this case, the generic designation does not imply low quality. It’s simply that producers Famille Dubard are growing fine grapes and making excellent wine outside France’s designated wine-producing areas like Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône or the Loire.

The Dubards’ commitment to vine health has been recognized by the French government’s HEV (high environmental value) sustainability certification, which recognizes biodiversity, conservation, plant protection strategy, and fertilizer and water management. They practice traditional wine making with long, gentle grape pressing, fermentation with indigenous yeasts, and keeping the wine in stainless steel.

Today’s Tasting Report

Famille Dubard 2023 Coeur du Mont Sauvignon Blanc ($12.99)

Labeled Vin du France but actually grown sustainably in France’s Sud-Ouest region, Dubard Coeur du Mont Sauvignon Blanc is a very light, brass-colored wine. It shows an appealing, surprisingly complex aroma mix of ripe peaches, lemon, and lime, and a whiff of green olive. Peach and citrus carry over in a fresh, mouth-watering flavor framed by food-friendly acidity, with intriguing rainwater-over-rocks minerality coming in on a very long finish. Modest 12.5% alcohol. U.S. importer: Skurnik Wines, NYC. (April 15, 2025)

FOOD MATCH: It would be a natural with oysters and other shellfish as well as mild, white-fleshed fish. Enjoy it also with omelets, seafood or vegetable risotto or pasta dishes, or a polenta.

WHEN TO DRINK: This is a wine meant for current enjoyment, not for cellaring; but don’t worry, it’s not going to fall apart in the next year or even three.

VALUE:
Wine-Searcher.com’s database calculates a $16 average U.S. retail price, with local pricing covering a spread from $12 to $21. I was delighted with my $13 local price, but this excellent white wine ranks as good value throughout the teens.

WEB LINK:
This is importer Skurnik’s link to a fact sheet on Dubard Coeur du Mont Sauvignon Blanc.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Check prices and find vendors for Dubard Coeur du Mont Sauvignon Blanc on Wine-Searcher.com.

Read about the Vin de France classification (formerly Vin de Table) Here is Wine-Searcher’s info page about Sauvignon Blanc, with links to dozens of Sauvignon Blanc wines and vendors.

Find the wines you want

Explore Wine-Searcher

Wine-Searcher.com is the place to go online if you want to find where to buy a particular wine that interests you. What’s more, Wine-Searcher.com offers so much more. It’s well worth a visit just to discover its many features, including its popular list of the world’s Top 10 Best Value Wines.

Good wines we’ve tried under $10.99!

Want tips to still more good, inexpensive wines? Here are Wine-Searcher links to vendors and prices for a bunch more wines for $10.99 or less that I’ve told you about in recent years. In some cases, the prices may have risen over the $10.99 mark since I reviewed them, but they should still be excellent bargains. Please tell us about your favorites!

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