What Size Pour?

[Julie Brosterman]

There's been a lot of grumbling lately about wine etiquette in restaurants. Why do the glasses all come to the table with different amounts of liquid in each one? Why does the wait person fill the glass more than half-way full? The list is endless.

Recently, however, I noticed that the glasses seemed to be getting smaller. Am I really going blind or is that now a 6 oz instead of an 8 oz pour? Does the consumer now have to ask the server, "how many oz. are in your wine by the glass"?

Is this a question of switch and bait or is it really an effort by the restaurant to keep prices the same in spite of costs going up?

Frankly, it's made me shy away from wine by the glass - period. At least I know that the bottle is still the same size.

julie@womenwine.com

[Miami Danny]

There's been a lot of grumbling lately about wine etiquette in restaurants. Why do the glasses all come to the table with different amounts of liquid in each one? Why does the wait person fill the glass more than half-way full? The list is endless.

Recently, however, I noticed that the glasses seemed to be getting smaller. Am I really going blind or is that now a 6 oz instead of an 8 oz pour? Does the consumer now have to ask the server, "how many oz. are in your wine by the glass"?

Is this a question of switch and bait or is it really an effort by the restaurant to keep prices the same in spite of costs going up?

Frankly, it's made me shy away from wine by the glass - period. At least I know that the bottle is still the same size.

julie@womenwine.com

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Many restaurants and wine bars sell by the 3oz, 6oz, etc., so you are told on the list what the pour is. Unless you have a very trained eye, though, spying the difference between 5 & 6 ounces or 3 and 2 1/2, is pretty tough, esp. in an oversized stem. I think 8 oz. is too much to ask by the glass, unless you're drinking cheap swill at a chain, where it is expected.

I also think it's entirely appropriate to ask, "what size is your pour?", if it's not listed, along with "when was the bottle opened?'

[Fat Guy]

I don't think 8 ounces was ever a standard pour. A 750 ml bottle of wine contains 25.36 ounces. The choice has mostly been between getting 4 or 5 pours out of a bottle, in other words between a 6-ounce pour (24 ounces needed to get 4 pours) and a 5-ounce pour (25 ounces required for 5 pours). The 5-ounce pour, also known as 150 ml (very very close), is difficult to pull off. In a European wine bar where they have wine glasses with a white line etched in at the 150 ml mark, it's just possible -- though most wine bars I've been to in Europe (admittedly not many) have poured 175 ml, which is close to 6 ounces. A restaurant that does freehand pouring without measuring is likely to need to account for 4 pours per bottle -- especially if a taste is offered before pouring.

I haven't personally noticed pours getting smaller. I have, however, noticed that glasses (as in the actual stemware) have been getting bigger. If you pour 5 ounces of wine into a standard old-style Paris goblet, it looks pretty generous. If you pour 5 ounces of wine into a big-ass Spiegelau stem, it looks like a taste.

P.S. It's nearly universal in the literature about alcohol to assume a 5-ounce glass of wine. A glass of wine is defined that way: it's 5 ounces. I think reality is more like 6 ounces. The only place I consistently see an 8-ounce pour is in my home, because I often drink a bottle of wine over a three-day period, and I'm usually the only one drinking wine with meals here, so I pour roughly 8 ounces for dinner each day for three days. But I'm using 8.5-inch-high, 25-ounce-capacity Spiegelau stems, so an 8-ounce pour looks right.

[Miami Danny]

One thing to remember, and I was taught this by someone who could probably spy a pour down to the teaspoon-yes, you are trying to get four pours per bottle, but you have to allow for spillage, tastes, bad pours, etc. If you pour at five ounces, you are more likely going to end up with four full pours per bottle. At six ounces, you'll be cutting it way too close.

[K_A_S]

Just as a point of comparison, whenever you look at various dietary publications that count calories or health guidelines that discuss a "serving" of wine, they always count 4 oz. as one serving of wine. Not that restaurants EVER follow the actual recommended portions for either food or drink...

[Jmahl]

Grossman's Guide (sixth edition 1977) recommends a 4 oz. pour. That's 6 to the bottle. If you expect an 8 oz. pour, that a third of a bottle - buy the bottle.

We all know that wine is were the money is - that's what pays the bills so order the bottle but don't let them deliver it at 75 degrees.

Jmahl

[russ parsons]

funny, my complaint is usually the opposite. trying to be generous, restaurants fill wine glasses nearly to the rim, making it impossible to swirl and sniff without spilling all over myself.

[scubadoo97]

funny, my complaint is usually the opposite. trying to be generous, restaurants fill wine glasses nearly to the rim, making it impossible to swirl and sniff without spilling all over myself.

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My feelings as well. The ideal would be to bring the wine to the table in a little mini carafe so I could control the amount of the pour.

[Fat Guy]

There are a very few places here in New York City, mostly Mario Batali's restaurants, that sell wine by the quartino, a 250-ml mini-carafe, which is approximately 8 ounces (closer to 8.5). It makes for one nice big pour and a couple of top-offs. I like it. But it doesn't seem to have gained much popularity.

[russ parsons]

the quartino is one of the best trends to hit restaurants lately. unfortunately, it seems to be the one that's getting the least pick-up.

[mattohara]

we've got one at ansill but it's our house wine!

[Nathan]

I've seen four or five restaurants in NY go by the quartino in the last couple years (not just Batali's)....