Reference · glasses, bottles, formats
How many glasses are there in a bottle of wine?
Six. A 75 cl bottle poured at 12 cl gives six glasses, a magnum gives twelve, and a bottle of champagne poured into 10 cl flutes gives seven. The calculator below does the count for your format, your glass and your number of guests.
The count for your bottle
The formats table
Glasses rounded down to the whole number, because nobody serves half a glass. It is the figure the quantity calculator uses: six per bottle. Galleries pour smaller, around 10 cl: the exhibition opening page redoes the count accordingly.
| Format | Volume | 10 cl glasses | 12 cl glasses | 15 cl glasses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Half bottle | 37.5 cl | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Bottle | 75 cl | 7 | 6 | 5 |
| Magnum | 150 cl | 15 | 12 | 10 |
| Jeroboam | 300 cl | 30 | 25 | 20 |
| Bag-in-box | 5 L | 50 | 41 | 33 |
Why six glasses, and not five or seven?
Because 12 cl is the measure a trained waiter pours into a 30 cl wine glass: the wine stops at a third, you can swirl it, and there is room left for the nose. At 12 cl, 75 cl makes 6.25 glasses, so six full ones and a drop. Restaurants charge for 12 or 12.5 cl; at home, without measuring, people pour more.
What difference does a “generous pour” make?
All the difference, across 100 guests. A waiter pouring 15 cl takes the bottle from six glasses to five: the same 54 bottles for the drinks reception only serve 270 glasses instead of 324, and you are nine bottles short halfway through. If you don't control the service, count five glasses per bottle, or tell the caterer “12 cl” in so many words.
How many flutes in a bottle of champagne?
Seven 10 cl flutes, or six at 12 cl. A wide coupe holds less and fills faster, so you get eight, but the bubbles die in it within two minutes. For the toast, allow one flute per person and one bottle for six: the champagne for 20, 50 or 100 people page does the calculation by scenario.
Is a magnum really two bottles?
Exactly two, 150 cl, twelve glasses. The difference lies elsewhere: wine ages more slowly in it, the bottle impresses on a table of ten, and it takes twice as long to chill. The 5-litre bag-in-box gives 41 glasses, with no glamour but no cork either: the bag-in-box or bottle page compares the two for your volume.
How many actual glasses do you need to hire?
That is a different question. A guest uses a flute and a wine glass over the day, sometimes two if they put theirs down and forget it. The how many glasses to plan per person page counts the glasses to hire, the breakage and the waiters.