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How long does it take to break down a bottle of wine?
The human body breaks down an average of about 0.15 per mille of alcohol per hour. In parts per thousand (‰), the Blood alcohol concentration (BAK) is measured.
How long it takes to break down the per mille level after drinking a bottle of wine depends on the size of the bottle, the alcohol content of the wine, the period of consumption as well as the stomach contents and the physical constitution (especially the weight) of the person concerned. In this respect, a general statement on this question is very difficult.
A bottle of wine usually contains 0.75 litres (750 ml). As a guideline for a dry wine, an alcohol content of 13 percent by volume can be assumed, which corresponds to 78 grams of pure alcohol (for details see the question "How many calories does wine have?").
At a body weight of 70 kilograms, this results in a theoretical BAC value of 1.64 per mille for a man and 2.03 per mille for a woman (for details see question "How much per mille does a glass of wine have?")- theoretically under the condition that the alcohol is immediately and completely absorbed by the body and that degradation does not begin during consumption. However, these two conditions are not met: After all, the alcohol is consumed successively (in sips and with interruptions over a certain period of time) and only gradually enters the bloodstream (absorption deficit), and degradation already begins immediately after ingestion.
If we assume - not least for mathematical reasons - a BAC value of 1.5 per mille after consuming a bottle of wine, then the breakdown of this per mille value takes about ten hours. However, as already mentioned, this depends on a multitude of factors and can vary greatly in individual cases: both the underlying per mille value and the duration of alcohol degradation.