[leif]

A bottle is usually about 4 glasses (which is consistent with my experience, not sure how you made your calculation), so when shared, that's one to drink with the meal and one to share over conversation after. I'm far from a teetotaler, but it doesn't seem terribly excessive when phrased that way.

It may depend on your upbringing. In the modern US, particularly the more puritan regions, any alcohol at all is usually considered a luxury reserved for celebration, but in some parts of the world, wine or beer is just the drink you drink with a meal, and there's less of a stigma about it. If it's not your thing, it's not your thing, but applying the label "excess" is a pretty specifically cultural decision.

[michaelchisari]

A single serving of wine is 4 to 5 ounces. Don't base it off of restaurant pours, they often over-pour to compensate for the high markup.

A bottle is at least 25 ounces. Split between two people, that's 2.5 to 3.125 glasses of wine per person per bottle. 5 times a week, that's 12.5 to over 15 ounces.

I'm in the US, but from an Italian family. Wine was on the table often, especially around my extended family. I enjoy whiskey, and I've been into savory hard ciders since I found out beer is out of the question. Like I said, hardly a teetotaler.

Yet I'm under no illusions that drinking 15 servings of alcohol a week regularly is recommended. If someone were drinking that much, that consistently, their physician would definitely recommend that they cut their consumption considerably.

http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-con...