Netscape Forum Poll: When I have wine, I usually drink ...

[Robin Garr]

We assume that most serious wine enthusiasts are moderate consumers, if only for the pragmatic reason that if getting wasted is your objective, you can do it much more efficiently with less costly fluids. But what's moderate for you? One glass, two glasses or more? In the privacy of the Voting Booth, tell us your preference in our CompuServe/Netscape WineLovers Community poll!

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Easy answer.....2 glasses. That is about what I get when the wife and I split a bottle. That happens at home or out to dinner. Two is also about what I would consume if buying by the glass. Three is a rarity, would have to occur over extended time. One is more frequent than three.

Dina and I usually split a bottle with meals. Sometimes we leave some for another night, sometimes not.

Richard

[Robin Garr]

Dina and I usually split a bottle with meals. Sometimes we leave some for another night, sometimes not.

Mary and I were doing that for quite a while, and frankly, I never thought of it as anything but moderate consumption (and still don't). But over the past month or two, I've been making an effort to put it aside after a glass or a glass and a half, and I find to my interest that, while making no other changes in my lifestyle, neither eating nor exercise, this small change - and specifically, cutting off wine after about 8 p.m. - has prompted me to lose two or three pounds over a month or six weeks, and they were pounds that I was quite happy to shed so painlessly.

One problem with this poll for me is trying to decide what is meant by a "glass" of wine. Is that the nearly standard 8 oz pour one gets in a restaurant or bar? Or is that instead the 3-4 oz I usually pour myself at home? As you can see, I arrive at vastly different numbers depending on which definition I use.

Mark Lipton

We usually drink about about a 1/4 bottle per person per night. This has us splitting one bottle over 2 dinners. Sometimes more one night and less on another. However, weight is becoming an issue for me even with this moderation. I have been thinking for a while about cutting back to a couple days a week, or the weekend. In spite of the health benefits of moderate wine consumption, weight is the bigger issue here.

I applaud Jenise for her decision, and I'm going to give it a try. I'm sure I'll feel better with a few less pounds. She is right, though, wine makes meal planning more fun and gives the food more interest.

Typically, I will open one bottle every weekend or maybe every two weekends and if it's just me, it takes me about 3 days to finish. Of course when company comes over, more bottles end up invariably being opened.

As for the weight control thing, I have found that green tea has worked wonders for me. I drink about 3-4 cups of strong loose-leaf green tea every day, and without doing anything else I have taken a couple of pounds off as well. I think they say that green tea speeds up the metabolism and it seems to have done just that. For all those years before I ever touched green tea I was a coffeeholic, and that didn't seem to help much at all in the Bulge Department® ...

Robin,

I didn't mean every meal. I meant when we have wine, we usually finish the bottle. 3 nights / week usually.

Usually a midweek day, then Fri ,Sat or Sun.

Richard

[Robin Garr]

One problem with this poll for me is trying to decide what is meant by a "glass" of wine. Is that the nearly standard 8 oz pour one gets in a restaurant or bar? Or is that instead the 3-4 oz I usually pour myself at home? As you can see, I arrive at vastly different numbers depending on which definition I use.

Hmm, fair question, Mark. Perhaps I should have specified, but honestly, I thought 5 ounces per "glass" was fairly widely accepted among wine enthusiasts for several reasons: First, that's the research standard for virtually all wine-and-health studies. Second, it's an appropriate pour in most standard tulip-style wine glasses (albeit a mighty tiny splash in the bottom of the biggest Riedels). And finally, it breaks down to just about five "glasses" out of a 750ml bottle, which is a pretty good way for a couple to divide a bottle (3 for me, 2 for my bride) on the occasions when you're going to finish the whole thing.

The 8-ounce restaurant pour is not a geek measure, it seems to me, but a compromise forced on many restaurants by non-enthusiasts who aren't interested in swirling but get crabby if their glass doesn't come out full.

As for the weight control thing, I have found that green tea has worked wonders for me. I drink about 3-4 cups of strong loose-leaf green tea every day, and without doing anything else I have taken a couple of pounds off as well.

Paul, knowing you as I do, I have to wonder why you would even consider taking off weight. I remember one Saturday evening at Mo'Cool, when I was looking for you to taste a bottle I had brought. I looked and looked, and finally found you, standing beside me turned sideways!

Usually 2 glasses for me as well.

If I am spending a relaxing evening at home and am solo, it is possible that over four or so hours I will consume a whole bottle, although I usually stop when the letters in the home winemaking manual start looking like Farsi poerty.

Most usually, I will split a bottle with Zari, and, only because I am somewhat of a rapid drinker regardless of beverage, the split will be about 60-40.

In a restaurant, my cheapo genes become dominant and I will only nurse one glass (unless someone else is paying).

In general, I will stop the moment I start to feel even a little mellow. Fortunately, I get hung over very quickly and this usually stops me from overdoing it because I can feel the headache coming on from a distance.

Beer, on the other hand, I can drink until the cows come home and leave again for work in the morning.

Half a bottle when I drink alone at home..... with lots of water in between......more than that I consider overdoing it...... This happens about 2 to 3 times a week.....

Paul, knowing you as I do, I have to wonder why you would even consider taking off weight. I remember one Saturday evening at Mo'Cool, when I was looking for you to taste a bottle I had brought. I looked and looked, and finally found you, standing beside me turned sideways!

Good one

Well I do have a habit of getting "lost" in the wines that I love, so ...

Usually 1 glass per evening, four to five evenings per week. Although my pours at home tend towards the large, as my spouse doesn't drink and I feel compelled to finish the bottle before it goes bad (unless it's really cheap stuff, then I'll sometimes end up pitching the last 1/4 bottle).

I have a firm max of 2, whether at home or out for dinner.

At 4'10" and 98 lbs., I might be pushing the health benefit limits at these quantities, but I rationalize by working out 5 times a week and drinking lots of green tea...

Concerning the number of glasses, I was going to say the same thing, it all depends on the pour! And I must have remarkably small pours, because I have at least 10 "glasses" per bottle..

But, otherwise it all depends on the wine. If it's something that needs to be consumed in one day for peak pleasure, then I'm perfectly capable of doing that. If it's something that needs 2-3-4-etc days of aeration, then I'm also perfectly capable of doing that.

Hmm, fair question, Mark. Perhaps I should have specified, but honestly, I thought 5 ounces per "glass" was fairly widely accepted among wine enthusiasts for several reasons: First, that's the research standard for virtually all wine-and-health studies. Second, it's an appropriate pour in most standard tulip-style wine glasses (albeit a mighty tiny splash in the bottom of the biggest Riedels). And finally, it breaks down to just about five "glasses" out of a 750ml bottle, which is a pretty good way for a couple to divide a bottle (3 for me, 2 for my bride) on the occasions when you're going to finish the whole thing.

The 8-ounce restaurant pour is not a geek measure, it seems to me, but a compromise forced on many restaurants by non-enthusiasts who aren't interested in swirling but get crabby if their glass doesn't come out full.

Fair enough, Robin. I wasn't aware that the 5 oz figure was that standardized (and exceeds the usual pour in our house as INAO glasses are our everyday glasses), so I'd have to say 2-3 glasses for me. Jean and I will rarely finish a bottle between the two of us (though we did last night), but we consume more than 375 mL between us. So, doing a little math: 500 mL = 17.6 oz ~ 3.5 glasses, of which 1 goes to Jean and 2.5 to me.

Mark Lipton

I said 2, though that is more of an average.

Assuming that a 750ml bottles gives six glasses, when I do open a bottle at home it seems that I drink 3-4. Normal number of bottles opened in a week is 2-3.

I answered 3, based on 4 oz (I thought I remembered that as a standard pour, but a quick review makes it seem Robin is right that it is 5 oz). So still 2-3 glasses. Typically we don't quite finish a bottle, with me probably drinking twice as much as Betsy.
I drink more at dinner parties at our home, and at wine dinners/tastings in city. At Westchester functions where I am driving, I generally spit a lot and drink equivalent of 2 glasses (maybe more if over a long extended dinner).

Paulo, I'm with you -- half a bottle, one glass with the meal, one glass later, lots and lots of water.

Robin, I don't disagree with what you write on glass size, although for me half a bottle equals two glasses -- only because I can easily save a half 750 in a full 375 bottle.

Andrea Immer Robinson and the French Culinary Institute had a little discussion of standard sizes of "glasses" and pricing at the course I took last year, which might be interesting to folks who buy wine by the "glass".

Wine by the glass cost percentage: Bottle cost divided by pours per bottle = selling price per glass.


25.4 ounces in a 750 ml bottle – pick a size and stick to it.

4 ounces pour = 6 pours per bottle
5 ounce pour = 5 pours per bottle
6 ounce pour = 4 pours per bottle

Calina Reserve Chardonnay costs $5.33

Using a 6 oz pour or 4 pours per bottle the cost per glass is $1.33. 19.7% cost percentage.

$6.75 per glass; $16.00 per bottle.

Champagne: dictated by glass – 5 oz size. Pick same size glass – train to hit a bit below mid mark. Pick a glass that is easy to hit the mark. Etching weakens the glass.