Free Wine by the Glass Calculator — Price Every Pour and Every Bottle
Wine is one of the highest-margin items in your restaurant — if you price it right. This free wine by the glass calculator takes your wholesale bottle cost and pour size and instantly gives you the cost per glass, the price you should charge by the glass, and the price that bottle should carry on your wine list. No spreadsheets, no guessing, no leaving money on the table.
Draft Beer Cost Calculator
Price your draft beers from keg cost — waste included
Waste is fixed at 20% to account for foam, line cleaning, spillage, and free pours. A 1/2 keg holds 1,984 oz (15.5 gallons); a 1/6 log holds 661 oz (5.16 gallons). Suggested price targets a 25% pour cost.
How Many Glasses Are in a Bottle of Wine?
A standard 750ml bottle holds 25.4 ounces. At the industry-standard 5-ounce pour, that's 5 glasses per bottle. Pour 6 ounces and you get 4 glasses; pour a tighter 4 ounces and you get 6. The pour size you choose directly changes your cost per glass and your profit per bottle, which is why this calculator lets you set it.
How to Price Wine by the Glass
The industry standard for wine by the glass is a 25% pour cost — meaning the wine itself should represent about a quarter of the menu price. If a bottle costs you $10 wholesale, each 5-ounce glass costs you $2.00, and at a 25% pour cost the glass sells for $8.00.
A popular shortcut many operators use: charge the wholesale bottle cost for the first glass. With 5 glasses in the bottle, the first glass pays for the bottle and the remaining 4 glasses are nearly pure profit.
How to Price a Bottle on Your Wine List
The standard restaurant markup for bottles is 3x wholesale cost. A bottle that costs you $12 lists at $36. Higher-end bottles often carry a lower multiple (2x–2.5x) to keep them moving, while inexpensive bottles can support a higher multiple. This calculator applies the standard 3x so you have a consistent starting point for your list.
By the Glass vs. By the Bottle — Which Makes More Money?
Almost always, by the glass. A $10 bottle priced at 3x sells for $30 as a bottle — $20 profit. The same bottle sold as five $8 glasses brings in $40 — $30 profit. That's why a strong by-the-glass program is one of the most profitable moves a restaurant can make, as long as you control spoilage on open bottles.
How to Use This Calculator
Enter the wholesale cost of the bottle — what your distributor charges you
Enter your pour size in ounces (5 oz is standard)
Instantly see glasses per bottle, cost per glass, suggested glass price, and suggested bottle list price
FAQ Section
How many glasses of wine are in a 750ml bottle? A 750ml bottle holds 25.4 ounces, which yields 5 standard 5-ounce glasses. A 6-ounce pour yields 4 glasses per bottle.
What is a good pour cost for wine by the glass? Most restaurants target a 20–30% pour cost on wine by the glass, with 25% being the most common benchmark. At 25%, a glass that costs you $2.00 in wine sells for $8.00.
What is the standard restaurant markup on a bottle of wine? The standard markup is 3x the wholesale cost — a $15 wholesale bottle lists at $45. Fine dining and high-end bottles often use lower multiples of 2x–2.5x, while by-the-glass wines support the full 3x or more.
Is it more profitable to sell wine by the glass or by the bottle? By the glass. Five glasses at a 25% pour cost generate roughly 30–35% more revenue than selling the same bottle at a 3x list price. The trade-off is spoilage risk on open bottles, which is why most by-the-glass lists focus on wines that move quickly.
How should I price the first glass of wine? A common industry rule of thumb is to price one glass at the wholesale cost of the entire bottle. The first glass sold covers your cost, and every remaining glass in the bottle is profit.
How long does an open bottle of wine last behind the bar? Most wines hold quality for 2–3 days after opening when stored properly with a vacuum stopper or preservation system, and up to a week with inert gas systems like Coravin. Spoilage should be factored into your by-the-glass program planning.