it's not possible to answer, it's like if i ask you how much wine do the people from your town drink a week?? it depends on each one, some have their drink of white or red wine at every lunch, then dinner. some don't like to have wine during the day because it makes them sleepy, or because a glass make them feel like if they had 2. some prefer to have champagne, some to have hard alcohols. some drink a bottle a day, some just when they go out, some just during the week-end. but i found that the average consumption of wine in france is 60 liters/year/person, and that in average french drink 2 or 3 glasses of wine/day. but the regular drinkers drink an average of 200 liters/year. so as you know, french are the 1st wine drinkers in europe, and also have a better longevity than north american, and 40% less vascular accidents, when they drink, eat charcuterie, and smoke. that's the french paradox, and a glass/day can help you prevent some diseases (but not more than 2 or 3 glasses a day, and not 2 bottles druing the we).

Thanks for the answers. I just drank an entire bottle of wine tonight for dinner and I was not drunk because I ate food along. It was George Duboeuf 2003 Cotes du Rhone. Very good wine I must say.

i think it depends a lot on the wines. i only drink white wines, and i can tell you some make you feel drunk after 2 or 3 glasses (and i drink a lot, so i'm used to it), and for some others i can drink a whole bottle plus let's say one or 2 glasses of hard alcohols without being drunk. i discovered something here i looove, it's dessert wines, like woodstock in australia. i thought i hated very sweet wines, but no i like them. i'm not sure about sauternes, which is very strong.

colorangel, as for "wine being a choice, not an obligation.", I'd say that's definitely not the case if you're visiting French family. ;)

Red wine is considered so good for your heart these days that in UK hospitals heart patients are given a glass of red wine every day.

On a regular basis French people (at least the ones I know) do not drink much at all except with company or when they go to a restaurant. Many times they have or order just one glass too.

It is ok to order a bottle of water BTW.

Unless you go to a cafe or a cheap restaurant it is a faux pas IMO to ask for a carafe d'eau and nothing else.

> Unless you go to a cafe or a cheap restaurant it is a faux pas IMO to ask for a carafe d'eau and nothing else.

As well as being just plain rude. They can't refuse you water but you can't take up a seat and drink it :)

> How do they drink during the day and still manage?

I don't really know actually :) In the canteen where I eat most days you'll always see about 2 or 3 people in every 50 who'll drink wine with their meal (In Ireland it would be looked down upon to drink during work hours). If I had a glass or two I'd have to sneak away for a nap somewhere personally :)

Just back from two weeks in SW France and always ordered a carafe d'eau alongside our bottle of wine, had no problem with that. In fact in one place, when we asked for the second one, the waiter brought a much bigger one than the first. Well, it was hot, and we were spending money on food etc...

I did notice though a couple of places charging if you only wanted a carafe d'eau with your meal, not wine or other drinks - not as much as for a litre of Vittel, say, but enough that you probably would go for Vittel over tapwater.

Also, it was only on the very last night that we saw a "pichet" (jug) of wine available as an option on the menu. Question to people living in France - at a cheep and cheerful restaurant, is it an option to ask for a pichet even if it doesn't appear on the wine list, or do you have to go for the eg EUR 15 bottle of house white?

These days they drink less but better (more expensive ones)wines, as before they used to drink more wine. Isee more and more people drinking just one glass during their meal. As per me, i don't like wine, so it is really a choice, not an obligation, although i feel odd sometimes to be the obly one who doen't like wine