Know Your Liquor: Can You Get Drunk Off Wine?

can you get drunk off wine

Humans and wine have a long history together. Even Plato, a philosopher from the 5th century BC, wrote that wine was the best gift gods have ever given to us — and we couldn’t agree more.

But surprisingly enough, there’s a common belief that you can’t get drunk by drinking wine alone. Therefore, this article will discuss the question “Can you get drunk off wine?” and whether that feels any different compared to getting tipsy off liquor or beer. Let’s get on it!

So, Can You Get Drunk Off Wine?

Wine

If you’ve had one too many glasses of your favorite rich-tasting Cabernet Sauvignon, you already know the answer to this question. In short, yes, you can get drunk off wine simply because it contains alcohol. But how tipsy the wine can get you depends on how strong it is and how well you generally tolerate alcohol.

How Much Alcohol Does Wine Contain?

The percentage of alcohol in wines can greatly vary. For instance, one of the wines with the least amount of alcohol is Moscato d’Asti. This Italian wine contains only 5.5% of alcohol, which means it is milder than beer.

So, if you want to enjoy a quality wine but also avoid a hangover, go for something like Moscato d’Asti or dessert wines such as Brachetto.

On the other hand, some aromatized or fortified wines, like Vermouth or Port, can have as much as 20% of alcohol. Still, on average, the concentration of alcohol in wines ranges between 11 and 13%.

What Does “Being Wine Drunk” Mean?

Drunk

Since we found the answer to the question “Can you get drunk off wine?” (yes, you can), now it’s time to tackle the idea of being wine drunk. So, is there such a thing?

Some people claim that being inebriated off wine seems different to them compared to getting drunk off beer or liquor. They describe wine drunk as feeling warm and cozy, relaxed, but still in control, not drowsy. However, the reports don’t always agree.

Therefore, there are others who say wine drunk makes them dizzy, sleepy, tipsy, and chatty.

What Exactly Is the Difference Between “Being Wine Drunk” and “Just Drunk”?

There is none. No matter what kind of alcohol you drink, you will experience the same symptoms. That is because you react to the same ingredient all alcoholic beverages contain — ethanol or ethyl alcohol.

Still, we are not saying that what you feel when you drink wine isn’t real. One research shows that people can experience different emotional responses to different types of alcohol. Which symptoms and how intensely you’ll feel them will depend on various factors — but the kind of alcohol is not one of them.

So, what kind of drunk you’ll become will depend on factors such as the following:

  • The Percentage of Alcohol In Your Beverage

The more alcohol-packed your drink is, the stronger you’ll react to it. And vice versa. So, the wine might give you a different buzz because it’s stronger or milder than your usual alcohol of choice.

  • How Fast You Drink

Of course, the faster the alcohol reaches your bloodstream, the tipsier you’ll feel. And while we usually chug beer and drink shots of vodka fast, the wine we sip slowly. Therefore, wine doesn’t hit as hard but instead makes us feel warm and relaxed.

  • The Amount You Drink

If you are sipping your wine slowly, you probably won’t consume as much. Therefore, you won’t get as intoxicated as you would with some other type of drink, which might lead you to think that wine affects you differently. However, it’s just that you are less drunk than usual.

Aside from those mentioned above, there are other factors that will influence how you react to wine and alcohol in general. Some of them include your gender, tolerance to alcohol, and your body size.

Furthermore, one study concluded that a setting could play a role in the way alcohol hits you. Also, the study authors discovered that your expectations are a possible factor as well. The point is that if you expect wine to make you feel a certain way, it most likely will.

How Many Glasses of Wine Does It Take to Get Drunk?

Glass

After asking, “Can you get drunk off wine,” the next logical question would be, “How many glasses does it take to get drunk?”. Obviously, this is not a simple matter, and the answer will be different for every person. How much wine you need to drink in order to get drunk will depend on many factors. So, let’s go into details.

Assuming that you know the percentage of alcohol the wine you are drinking contains, the next thing you need to find out is how big your glass is. In other words, how many drinks there are in your wine glass.

According to the Health dietary guidelines, one drink equals 12 fluid ounces of beverage that contains 5% of alcohol. So, if you are using a typical wine glass, it means you are holding 125 milliliters of wine or about four fluid ounces. In such circumstances, to get one full drink, you can have three glasses of wine.

However, everything changes with the percentage of alcohol in your wine. Since we already saw that wines most commonly contain around 12% of alcohol, one glass of such wine will be more or less equivalent to one drink.

How Many Drinks Are in Your Glass?

To sum up: to determine how many glasses of wine you can drink before you become tipsy, you need to know the alcoholic concentration of the wine and how much of it is in your glass. But since there are many types of wine glasses, and each of them can hold various amounts of liquid, things can get a bit confusing.

While the standard glass of wine holds around four fluid ounces, research has shown that an average consumer pours between 7 and 8 oz in a serving. So, if you are the one to fill the glass to the very top, there are about two drinks in your wine glass.

The rest depends on your drinking habits and tolerance. If you were a bear person so far, one glass of wine over the course of one hour would probably be enough to make you tipsy.

However, if you consume wine every day, your alcohol tolerance should be higher. In that case, you’ll most likely be able to down three or four glasses of wine before getting drunk.

Nicole Middleton
Nicole calls herself a typical millennial girl and thrives on her share of social media, celebrity gossip, and all things viral content. She’s a big fan of pop music and plays the guitar as a hobby.