A standard 75cl bottle of champagne pours six glasses of 125ml, or five if you pour generously at 150ml. For a toast, where each glass holds around 75ml, one bottle stretches to ten. Drinks House 247 uses the 125ml measure when helping customers work out quantities, because it matches a standard UK flute pour.
It sounds like a simple question, but the answer changes with the glass, the pourer and the occasion. The number that matters for planning is the size of each pour, not the size of the flute.
A typical champagne flute holds between 150ml and 200ml when filled to the brim. Nobody fills it to the brim: champagne needs space above the wine for the mousse to settle and the aroma to gather. A standard serve is about two thirds of the glass, which in most flutes works out at 125ml.
It also matches the standard small measure for wine in UK pubs and restaurants, so it is the figure most event planners use. At 125ml, a 75cl bottle gives exactly six glasses.
Champagne comes in more sizes than most people realise. The larger formats are named after biblical figures, and each is a multiple of the standard bottle.
| Bottle | Volume | Equal to | 125ml glasses | Toast pours (75ml) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarter (piccolo) | 20cl | ¼ bottle | 1–2 | 2–3 |
| Half bottle | 37.5cl | ½ bottle | 3 | 5 |
| Standard bottle | 75cl | 1 bottle | 6 | 10 |
| Magnum | 1.5L | 2 bottles | 12 | 20 |
| Jeroboam | 3L | 4 bottles | 24 | 40 |
| Rehoboam | 4.5L | 6 bottles | 36 | 60 |
| Methuselah | 6L | 8 bottles | 48 | 80 |
| Salmanazar | 9L | 12 bottles | 72 | 120 |
| Balthazar | 12L | 16 bottles | 96 | 160 |
| Nebuchadnezzar | 15L | 20 bottles | 120 | 200 |
The figures assume every drop is poured. In practice, allow for a little lost to foam on the first pour and to the last half-glass nobody wants, and round down slightly.
This depends entirely on what the champagne is doing at the event.
For a worked example at a larger event, see how much champagne you need for 50 guests.
There is a real, if modest, basis for the claim that champagne ages more gracefully in magnum. The ratio of wine to the air trapped under the cork is more favourable in a larger bottle, so the wine evolves more slowly and evenly. For a vintage champagne kept for years, a magnum can show fresher than the same wine in 75cl.
For a party tonight, the difference is mostly theatre. A magnum or jeroboam makes an impression on a table, and a single large bottle is easier to manage than a row of small ones. It is also harder to chill and heavier to pour, so for a large crowd several standard bottles are often more practical.
Most champagne is around 12% ABV. At that strength, a 75cl bottle contains 9 UK units, and a 125ml glass contains 1.5 units. The UK Chief Medical Officers advise not regularly drinking more than 14 units a week, spread over several days. Knowing the pour size is the easiest way to keep track at a long celebration.
If you are pouring for a crowd, open bottles one or two at a time rather than all at once. Champagne left standing open in a warm room loses its fizz within an hour, and a steady supply of freshly opened bottles keeps every glass lively.
A tulip-shaped glass, wider than a classic flute, lets the aroma open while still keeping the bubbles. Coupes look glamorous but lose fizz quickly and are easy to spill.
A standard 75cl bottle pours six 125ml glasses, or five generous 150ml glasses. For a toast of around 75ml each, one bottle serves about ten people.
A 1.5 litre magnum holds the same as two standard bottles, so it pours twelve 125ml glasses or around twenty toast-sized pours.
About two thirds of the glass, which is roughly 125ml in a typical flute. Leaving space lets the mousse settle and the aroma gather.
A 125ml glass of champagne at 12% ABV contains 1.5 UK units, and a 75cl bottle contains 9 units.
Browse half bottles, magnums and jeroboams, or the full champagne range. For gifts that include glasses, see our champagne and flute gift sets, and how champagne delivery works across London.
Deliveries are to over-18s only under our Challenge 21 policy. Please drink responsibly.
