Q When bars and restaurants have a logo on their wine glasses and fill them up to that level, is that so they can measure a standard drink?
A Certainly not in any legal sense – and don't be thinking that it is, or you may find yourself saying sayonara to your driver's licence next time you breathe into a bag. Etched logos on wine glasses are about branding and helping the restaurant keep its pours consistent – bar and waiting staff are instructed to fill to a certain level, and having a mark on the glass helps.
They have nothing to do with the measurement of a standard drink. In Australia, a standard drink contains 10 grams of alcohol, which is usually equated to about 100 millilitres of table wine – maybe more or less, depending on whether the wine is a pretty little moscato with lowish alcohol or a big, in-your-face, alcoholic zinfandel – but those are extremes. Either way, 100 millilitres is not a huge amount of wine by most people's standards.
Most restaurant wine pours in present-day Australia are generally more like 120 millilitres or 150 millilitres. That is good if you are thirsty; less so if you are bad at basic arithmetic and hoping to drive home without an unhappy encounter with your local constabulary.
Advance knowledge of the size of a restaurant's pours is also handy when you're in two minds about taking the plunge and buying a whole bottle.
Are you struck with wine angst? Contact our agony aunt at food.wine@canberra times.com.au
Cathy Gowdie owns Foxeys Hangout winery on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria.