How Much Wine to Get Drunk
Wine has always been regarded as a sophisticated drink. This is why not many people think that drinking wine can actually get you wine drunk. So can you get a drink off wine? If you’re a fan of wine or a serious wine collector, then you know the answer to this question.
But, if you only drink wine occasionally or you’ve never considered drinking it before, you might have a lot of questions about its ability to get you tipsy.
In this article, we’ll discover if wine can get you drunk, how much wine to get drunk, and whether or not drinking a whole bottle is good for you.
Can You Get Drunk Off Wine?
The answer to this question is yes, absolutely. You can definitely get drunk from any alcohol consumption, including drinking wine. In fact, most wines have a higher alcohol level than regular beer, giving it a better ability to get you tipsy, dizzy, and slow down your motor response.
Typical wine has twice as much alcohol level as beer, so the next time you attend a party and think having a glass or two of wine is completely safe, think again.
Wine can get you drunk because of its congener content. Congeners are chemicals that result from grape fermentation. These chemicals determine the taste and smell of wine and are considered to be the key biologically active ingredient of alcohol.
There are several reasons why wine can easily make you drunk. We see three obvious reasons, which are:
1. Wine Tastes Good
Wine is rich in flavors and aromas. From certain grape varieties, you can experience a plethora of aromas that you can’t get anywhere else. Imagine drinking wine and tasting leather, earthy undertones, honeysuckle, peaches, chocolate, peppermint, and a host of flavors that burst in your mouth. When something tastes good, you have a tendency to want to consume more of it. The more glasses you drink, the more prone you are to getting drunk.
2. People Pour Too Much
There’s a tendency to focus more on the vertical measures of pouring wine into a glass. When you pour wine over a wide wine glass, there’s a big probability that you’ll pour too much. When you use a narrow glass, however, it tends to get filled fast.
This makes you think you’re drinking a lot, so you stop after one or two glasses. Compared to a wide glass where it looks only half-full, you have a tendency to drink more because you believe that there’s not much wine.
The standard pour is also not widely known. Many people believe that filling the glass up to its rim is how you pour wine, but it’s not. The standard pour is at 5 ounces per glass. Depending on the glass you use, this can look like a glass-half-full, a glass almost filled to its rim, or a glass looking like it’s filled only on the bottom area.
It’s important to note that one bottle of wine regularly serves 5 glasses of wine with 5 ounces in each glass. To prevent you from pouring too much, open one bottle of wine, prepare 5 glasses, and pour the same amount of wine in each glass.
3. Wine Creeps Up on You
The effect of the alcohol intake of wine is not immediate. It creeps up on you – meaning, you’ll only realize you’re drunk when you’re already tipsy and warm all over.
How Much Alcohol is In Wine?
Alcohol levels of wine vary depending on the type of wine and the brand of wine you buy. Some wines can only have 5.5% alcohol levels, such as the Italian Moscato d’Asti, while some wines can have 20% alcohol levels, such as some Port wines.
The average alcohol content for wines is somewhere between 11% to 13%, which can be a higher alcohol content than most craft beers. The amount of alcohol has a direct relationship with how much wine you drink to get drunk, but there are also other factors involved.
Some considerations include your weight, age, gender, and even your most recent meal. Each of these factors impacts your alcohol tolerance.
Factors That Contribute to Wine’s Ability to Get You Drunk
While the alcohol level and amount of wine contribute to its ability to get you drunk, there are several factors that need to be considered when determining how much wine can get you drunk.
But before we discuss these factors, it’s important to know the reason why you should know these considerations. Wine is a drink that’s meant to be shared during celebrations and socializations. A standard drink or two can help you loosen up and enjoy the company of others, or it can also be enjoyed as a way to relax at the end of the day.
If you intend to get drunk on wine at home, knowing how many glasses of wine can get you drunk can help you get there faster. Or, if you attend a party, a company event, or a wedding, knowing your alcohol tolerance in terms of how much wine you can drink will help you stay safe, stay employed, and stay friends with the host.
Here are the factors that contribute to how much wine will get you drunk:
- Your Gender
Studies have shown that women get drunk faster than men. This is because a woman’s body stores more body fat, which is known to retain alcohol. Women also have less water in their bodies, which is known to disperse alcohol. The woman’s body’s ability to retain alcohol and difficulty in diluting it means that women can achieve intoxication with two glasses of wine taken in a one-hour period, while it won’t have the same effect on men.
Another biological reason why it takes less wine to get women drunk is that women produce less ADH or alcohol dehydrogenase than men. This enzyme is released by the liver and its primary job is to break down alcohol in the body. The less ADH your body releases, the more susceptible you are to becoming drunk.
- Your Weight and Height
Studies have also shown that the more body mass you have, the harder it is for you to get drunk. The less weight you have, the faster it is for you to get drunk. This also goes with height. The shorter and more petite you are, the faster it is for you to reach drunkenness. The taller you are, the harder it is for you.
Unless you are more than 250 pounds in weight, two glasses of wine with an alcohol level of 11% consumed within one hour will make you tipsy.
- Your Recent Meal
Drinking wine on an empty stomach will get you drunk faster. This is because alcohol gets into your bloodstream fast. When you have an empty stomach, there’s no food to absorb the alcohol. It goes straight into your small intestines, where they are sent to your bloodstream, making you drunk faster.
How Much Wine Can Get You Drunk?
When all these factors are taken into consideration, the average person who weighs 100 pounds can become tipsy with two glasses of wine consumed within one hour. The effect of this amount of wine includes a shorter attention span, poor short-term memory, slowed motor response, and gives you a warm, happy, and confident sensation.
This will make you loosen up, help you relax, and in social situations, will help you relax your inhibitions, allowing you to become more of yourself.
If you drink three glasses of wine in one hour, you can become fully drunk. You will start to lose focus, you will slur a little, and your motor skills will be terrible at this point. When you drink this much wine, you’re 100 pounds, and you’re a woman, consider yourself completely drunk and it’s either you ask someone to take you home if you’re at a party, or you stop drinking and go to sleep if you’re at home.
Getting too drunk can be dangerous if done too much. Too much wine, which is 8 glasses in one hour can be deadly. It can make you lose your coordination, make you confused, give you a lack of sense of pain, and can even make you lose your consciousness.
How to Drink Wine Moderately and Prevent Yourself From Getting Drunk
Here are some tips to drinking moderately, and preventing yourself from getting drunk:
- Make sure you do not drink on an empty stomach. Remember that drinking on an empty stomach will make you get drunk faster.
- Stay hydrated by drinking water between each drink. Water can help dilute alcohol in your body, preventing the alcohol from fully intoxicating you.
- Sip slowly. Drinking one glass within one hour most probably won’t make you drunk.
- Know your limits. If you know you can get drunk with two glasses consumed in an hour, then it’s best that you only drink one glass of wine at a party where you need to behave and act decently, such as a company party or a dinner with your boss.
- Choose a wine with low alcohol levels. If you love wine but hate getting drunk, it might be a better option to choose a wine that has very little alcohol levels, such as the Italian Moscato d’Asti mentioned earlier, which only has a 5.5% alcohol level.
The Bottom Line
If you’ve always wondered if wine can get you drunk but never experienced it before, then yes, wine can get you drunk fast. Wine tastes good and there’s a tendency for people to overpour, making it so easy to get drunk on wine.
It’s important to know your limits so you don’t pose a danger on the road or to yourself when you have consumed too much at a party or you don’t want to suffer from a major hangover the next day. The safest way to drink wine without getting drunk is to drink just one glass within a one-hour period.