When we drive to a Danish winery, it’s always the smartest one (Yulia!) who drives on the way out and the other one (Christopher) drives home.
This DanishWine.com guide is all about how many items are in a bottle of wine. It’s useful whether you need to know if you can drive home (max. one glass of wine!) or make sure you stay on your feet during dinner.
An item is a unit of measurement that indicates the amount of alcohol in a beverage. In Denmark, one unit corresponds to 12 grams of pure alcohol. By using this unit, you can compare the alcohol content across drinks and better assess how much you are consuming.
A 75cl bottle of wine with 12% alcohol typically contains 6 units. This knowledge is important to avoid breaking the law and unnecessary health risks.
It depends on how long it takes you to drive the car and your weight. If you weigh 80 kg, it will take 2-3 hours before you can drive.
For example, if you’re driving home from a Danish winery, you can drink about one small glass per hour.
Here you can see a table with number of glasses, weight and hours.
| Body weight (kg) | 1 glass (100 ml, 12% alcohol) | 2 glasses (200 ml, 12% alcohol) | 3 glasses (300 ml, 12% alcohol) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 1 hour | 4-5 hours | More than 6 hours |
| 60 | 1 hour | 3-4 hours | 5-6 hours |
| 70 | 1 hour | 3 hours | 4-5 hours |
| 80 | 1 hour | 2-3 hours | 4 hours |
| 90 | 1 hour | 2 hours | 3-4 hours |
A standard bottle of wine contains 75 cl. The number of servings depends on the alcohol content of the wine.
| Wine type | Alcohol percentage | Number of units |
|---|---|---|
| Red wine | 13-15% | 7-9 |
| White wine | 10-12% | 5-6 |
| Rosé wine | 11-13% | 6-7 |
A simple method is to divide the alcohol percentage of the wine by 2 to get the number of units in the bottle. For example:
A more accurate calculation of the number of units in a bottle of wine can be done with the following formula:
(Volume in cl × Alcohol % × 0.8) / 12.Example: For a bottle of wine with 12% alcohol, the calculation looks like this:
(75 × 12 × 0.8) / 12 = 6 units.This method ensures that the calculation is accurate and takes into account the density of the alcohol (0.789 g/ml).
The alcohol level depends on several factors, including body weight, gender and the way the wine is consumed. If wine is consumed on an empty stomach, the blood alcohol level rises faster and can peak after 45 minutes. However, if the wine is consumed with a meal, the blood alcohol level may only peak after 90 minutes and the overall blood alcohol level is reduced by up to 66%. This effect is because food delays the emptying of the stomach and gives the liver more time to break down alcohol using the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase.
According to the Danish Road Safety Council, the blood alcohol limit in Denmark is 0.5 for drivers of motor vehicles. Even if you stay below this limit, you can still be penalized if you are unable to drive safely.
Age has a major impact on how alcohol affects the body. This is due to the loss of body water that occurs gradually with age. For example, a woman in her 30s has an average of 33.2 liters of body water, while this amount is reduced to 30.9 liters in her 70s – a loss of about 6.9%. Men experience a similar loss, from 47.5 liters in their 30s to 44.1 liters in their 70s, which equates to 5.6%.
Less body water means that alcohol is less diluted in the body, resulting in a higher BAC for the same number of drinks. Older people should therefore pay extra attention to their alcohol intake, especially if they drink quickly or on an empty stomach.
The blood alcohol limit in Denmark is 0.5 promille.
Danishwine.com is set up in the world to spread knowledge of Danish wine both in Denmark and abroad.
© 2025 DanishWine
