17LOVEFOOD

Irish Independent

Autumn 2009

We’ve all heard of units ofalcohol – those all-important measurementstelling us how muchwe’re allowed to drink for

a healthy lifestyle. It’s recommended thatmen take in no more than 21 units per weekwhile women rack up no more than 14.

A unit of alcohol is deemed to be a‘standard drink’ – a glass/half pint of beer(284ml), a small glass of wine (100ml) or apub measure of spirits (35.5ml). Thehuman body can usually dispose of around

one unit of alcohol an hour. So, ifyou’re in the pub and you

drink a pint of beer, it takeson average two hours to leaveyour system.

All wines, beers and spirits,however, are obviously not ofthe same alcoholic strength –and when you’re in a restaurantand you order a glass of wine, howcan you really tell how much is init? Keeping tabs on your alcohollevel is more complicated than itseems at first!

“A standard drink is supposed togive you 10 grams, or 12mls, ofpure alcohol,” wine lecturer ColinByford explains, “that’s a unit.” Itrarely works out that you’ll getexactly 12mls per drink, however.“If for example you’re drinking alager that has 4.5 per cent alcohol,that’s going to give you nearly 14mlsof alcohol per glass/half pint, butit’s still pretty close.”

It gets more complicated when itcomes to wine. Depending on

what you order, one glass ofwine can have almost twice

the alcohol level of another. “A100ml glass, depending on thewine, would give you anythingfrom 8mls of alcohol up to15mls.

“A light German Rieslingwould be about 8 per cent so

that’s 8mls per glass. A bigAustralian Shiraz, on the other hand, isgoing to be about 15 per cent, sometimes ashigh as 15.5 per cent alcohol, so that’s15mls or more you’re getting per 100mlglass.” Whites generally contain around 12per cent alcohol while reds are higher at 12-15 per cent.

Just to throw another spanner in theworks, however – it would be rare to find arestaurant that will serve you a 100ml glassof wine. Restaurants generally get sixglasses to the bottle, which works out at125ml per glass.

“The little quarter bottles you get in thepub are 187ml, so there’s nearly twostandard drinks in one of those, around two

units of alcohol – roughly the same as apint of beer.”

Colin adds: “The real killer is havingwine from a bottle where the glass isfrequently topped up. It is very easy to losetrack. Finish the glass before pouringanother.”

The important thing when getting your21 (for men) or 14 (for women) units a weekis not to use them all up on a Friday night.There is evidence now to suggest thatpeople who have one or two drinksregularly actually live healthier lives thanthose who don’t drink at all.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuseand Alcoholism in the US reports thatmoderate drinkers on average live longerthan abstainers, while Harvard researchindicates that moderate drinkers decreasetheir risk of heart disease by 20 per cent ormore. These benefits disappear, however, ifone or two drinks a night becomes 10! It’salso recommended that you have at leastone or two alcohol-free days a week.

“Although alcohol is strictly speakingtoxic, in small quantities it seems to have abeneficial effect,” Colin concludes.

So, watching your units and knowingexactly what’s in your wine glass isimportant if you have an eye on your health.

Visit Colin Byford’s website atwww.southdublinwine.comFor more about alcohol units go towww.drinkaware.ie

What’s

The type of glass used can significantlyaffect the flavour of your wine. Colinsays: “Certain glasses work better fordifferent wines in terms ofhighlighting the aromas. For example,the tall thin champagne flute is bestfor champagne because it givesminimal surface area for the bubblesto escape. The big wide champagneglasses are actually the worst possibleglasses for champagne! Rounder stylesof glasses are better for reds becausethey keep in the aromas.”

Did you know?

in a

One Standard Drink

= =One

Standard

Drink

One

Standard

Drink

One

Standard

Drink

A glass of stout/lager/cider (284ml)A small glass of wine (100ml)A pub measure of spirit (35.5)

10gof pure alcohol

How much alcohol are you really consuming when you order thatglass of wine in a restaurant or a pub? Ben Murnane spoke to winelecturer Colin Byford to find out

glass?