Calories in Red Wine
In our health conscious society,
calories in red wine
have become more of a concern. So how do we determine the amount of calories in red wine.
In
order to determine this accurately we have to standardize what a "glass
of red wine" is. Traditionally, a glass or serving of red wine is
approximately 4 ounces. Just as an exercise, go and get your
favorite red wine glass
and pour in 4 ounces. Now visually compare this to the average glass
you pour yourself or others. My educated guess is that it probably is
about half the amount. This 4 ounces that you just poured is
approximately 100 calories. In fact, as a standard there is 25 calories
in red wine per ounce.
For those that want to break it down even furthur, in a 4-5 ounce glass of red wine there is 4 grams of carbs present.
Red
wine calories also vary according to the alcohol content in the red
wine varietal. Traditionally the higher alcohol content red wines have a
slightly higher calorie content than the lighter fruitier varietals.
For example, the Zinfandel wines
and the
Cabernet type wines
have a higher caloric content than the lighter wines such as the
Beaujolaise
and
Tempranillo wines.
To get a good appreciation of how much a 4 ounce pour looks like in a standard
red wine glass
look at the glass pictured to the right. This is a 4 ounce serving of
red wine. It's pretty obvious that a normal pour tends to be closer to
two times this amount. One needs to keep this in mind when calculating
your caloric intake. So be aware and above all, enjoy every sip!
Many people believe that if you can control the amount of red wine you consume and drink in moderation that there are
red wine health benefits
for all.
For more information about the different red wine types please visit
types of red wine.
