Calories in Wine by Style: Red, White, Rosé, Sparkling

By the DrinkLeader team · Published 2026-10-13 · Data updated 2026-10-13 · 8 min read

A standard 5 oz glass of wine in the catalog lists roughly 117 calories on average, with Cabernet at 124, Chardonnay at 122 and Champagne at 115. The gap between styles comes from two things: ABV, because alcohol carries about 7 calories per gram, and residual sugar. This guide shows both, style by style, using 5 oz rows only.

Why 5 oz rows only

NIAAA gives 5 fl oz of table wine at about 12% ABV as one US standard drink. The catalog sometimes stores wine per 100 ml or in other pours, which would make styles look incomparable, so every table on this page is limited to serving sizes between 4.9 and 5.2 oz. The FDA reminds readers that all nutrient amounts on a label are per serving, and that is the rule we follow. For the full carb story, see wine carbs and calories.

Calories by style

The table below averages the catalog's 5 oz rows for each style. Entries whose calories look too low for their stated ABV are left out of the averages.

Two patterns stand out. First, the dry reds and whites bunch up within a few dozen calories of each other, which is why choosing red or white matters less than people expect. Second, the sweet styles pull away on carbs more than on calories, because alcohol is still the biggest calorie source in most glasses.

Dry reds

These Cabernet Sauvignon pours are limited to 5 oz rows in the catalog:

The Pinot Noir and Merlot rows follow a similar pattern, with lighter-bodied reds such as Pinot Noir sometimes listing a lower ABV and so fewer calories. See best low-carb wine for the lowest carbs among reds.

Whites

For whites, calories track ABV closely:

Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio fall in the same band. A white listing a lower ABV, say 9 to 10 percent, can save a few dozen calories against a full-strength one, and the table lets you see the pattern directly.

Sparkling wine

Brut-style sparkling wines carry some of the lowest carbs of any wine, and calories are modest:

The sparkling wine guide goes deeper on brut versus sweeter styles, and the Aperol spritz guide shows what a spritz adds.

Sweet wines

Sweet styles carry the most carbs, and some add extra calories:

Moscato averages 128 calories, not far above dry wines, but its carbs are several times higher. That is why a sweet wine can look moderate on calories and still be a poor fit for carb-counting. The wine keto page lists which wines fit low-carb limits.

The lighter end

If you want fewer calories at the same 5 oz serving, look at lower-carb wines with moderate ABV:

Catalog calories are producer-stated or estimated; the methodology page explains which, and the USDA's FoodData Central lets you cross-check generic wines. For total-day planning, see the calorie math guide and the under 150 calories list.

Lower-ABV wines

Alcohol drives most of a dry wine's calories, so a lower ABV looks like an easy saving. These are the lowest-ABV 5 oz wines in the catalog:

The table shows why you have to read the whole row. Some of these wines do list fewer calories, but several are sweet, light-alcohol styles with double-digit carbs, where sugar replaces the calories alcohol would have supplied. A lower ABV lowers the alcohol per glass, which is useful in its own right, but it does not guarantee a low-sugar wine. The low-ABV drinks guide covers the trade-off across drink types.

How ABV turns into calories

A 5 oz glass is about 148 ml. At 12% ABV that is about 17.8 ml of pure alcohol, or about 14 grams, which is NIAAA's one standard drink. At 7 calories per gram, that alone is roughly 98 calories. At 14% ABV the same glass holds about 16 grams of alcohol and roughly 115 calories from alcohol alone. That is why a big, ripe red can list more calories than a lighter white even when neither has noticeable sugar. Sugar adds roughly 4 calories per gram on top. If a style list shows a calorie figure much lower than this arithmetic for its ABV, treat that row with suspicion, as we do when we leave such rows out of the averages above.

Pour size matters most

A restaurant glass is often 6 to 9 oz, not 5. A 9 oz pour of a 120-calorie 5 oz wine is about 216 calories, nearly double. Compare wine with other drinks at the same serving in hard seltzer vs beer vs wine, or use the compare tool.

Wine cocktails and spritzers deserve a separate look because their servings, sugar and ABV all differ from a plain pour. A wine spritzer made with soda water has less alcohol per glass, while a canned wine spritzer may add sweetener, so the label or catalog row is the only reliable guide. Sangria is similar: it can contain juice and sugar, and the catalog rows for sangria list noticeably more carbs than dry wine at the same pour. When you compare a wine drink with anything else, check the serving, the ABV and the carbs together, not calories alone.

This page is information, not medical advice. The CDC defines moderate drinking as up to two drinks a day for men and one for women when adults choose to drink, and says that drinking less is better for health than drinking more.