‘Reflection of culture': large glasses of wine come off the menu for British drinkers

The Guardian

06-04-2025

It may be a sign of changing tastes, of a health-conscious nation, or yet another example of the cost of living crisis encroaching on our few simple pleasures – but it seems the large glass of wine may soon be a thing of the past.
While a 250ml option used to be commonplace, it is becoming harder to find on the menus of bars and restaurants up and down the country as venues increasingly favour smaller 125ml servings.
At high-end restaurants, which would have tended to offer diners a choice of small or medium 175ml servings, there is a notable shift. Only one of the 20 top Michelin-starred restaurants now serves a medium: the Ledbury in Notting Hill. At the rest, diners are offered 125ml or a whole bottle at 750ml.
Hannah Crosbie, the Guardian's wine critic, said it was something she had noticed and 'found quite interesting'.
'Any time there's a big changing of tides or a notable difference in the way we drink wine, it really is a reflection of the culture and how we're drinking now,' she said. 'First of all, I'd say it's reflective of people just drinking less generally.'
Crosbie said it felt 'like a more health-conscious decision' but could sometimes be a convenient excuse to have a glass of wine instead of skipping it altogether. 'Instead of not getting wine, you get a smaller glass of wine.'
Another reason, Crosbie said, was that consumers were increasingly trying wines they would not have tried in the past.
'The average person – particularly in metropolitan areas, not speaking for the whole of the country – is now more adventurous with their wine choices than they've ever been,' she said. 'So instead of perhaps having a bottle and just sticking on one wine for the entire night, they would instead want to try lots of different things and, again, in order to keep on top of what they were drinking, they would just have smaller glasses so they could try as much as they can.'
She cited the rise of bars focusing on natural wines – those that are typically organic and use minimal processing – as these 'tend to have much smaller bistro ISO-style glasses [smaller wine glasses for tasting] and that naturally lends itself to a smaller serve.'
Jono Hawthorne, the chef patron at Chef Jono at V&V in Leeds, agreed and added that price was also a huge factor. He still serves large glasses but has noticed a trend towards customers wanting smaller glasses of higher-priced wines.
'The rise of smaller wine bars, especially natural and low-intervention wine, has led to more expensive wines being offered to customers,' said Hawthorne, who worked at Michelin-starred restaurants such as Noma and the Box Tree and competed on MasterChef: The Professionals before running his own kitchen.
Price is something he is conscious about when it comes to his own customers, offering affordable fine-dining options including creative five-course menus priced at £45. 'If you put a 250ml glass of wine on a menu, it would be the price of a bottle to some people,' he said.
But the good news for those unsatisfied by smaller servings is that chains such as Wetherspoon's, Pizza Express and All Bar One appear to be resisting the trend.
'A small glass of wine doesn't sound right, does it?' said Sanda Anlezark, over a bottle shared with her friend Jean Collingwood in All Bar One in Manchester city centre. The pair, 20 years retired from careers in advertising sales, were taking advantage of a Thursday deal at the chain where buying two glasses gets the rest of the bottle free – and were surprised to hear that wine sizes appeared to be shrinking.
Collingwood agreed. 'The best thing is when you don't have to ask, the person behind the bar goes … [she nods, conspiratorially] … and brings you a large.'
What if you went to a bar that only served small glasses? 'It wouldn't bother me,' said Anlezark. 'You'd get a bottle.'