Melbourne Cup day drinks: kilojoules in bubbles, beer and premixes

Bubbles, beer, cider and premix cans from AUSNUT, a full day at the races added up, and a paced version inside the NHMRC daily limit.

By the Cal.AI Team · Published October 31, 2026 · 4 min read

Short answer AUSNUT lists sparkling wine at 306 kJ (73 Cal) per 100 ml. A 150 ml glass is 459 kJ (110 Cal) and 1.5 standard drinks, and a 750 ml bottle is 2,283 kJ (545 Cal) and 7.3 standard drinks. Almost all of that energy comes from the alcohol, so pour size drives the total.

How many kilojoules are in sparkling wine?

AUSNUT 2023, the FSANZ food nutrient database, lists sparkling white wine at 306 kJ (73 Cal) per 100 ml. That works out to:

100 ml pour: 306 kJ (73 Cal), 1.0 standard drink
150 ml glass: 459 kJ (110 Cal), 1.5 standard drinks
750 ml bottle: 2,283 kJ (545 Cal), 7.3 standard drinks

Alcohol supplies most of that energy. A 150 ml glass holds 14.7 g of alcohol, and 14.7 g × 29 kJ per gram = 426 kJ, or 93% of the glass. The same glass has 1.5 g of sugar in AUSNUT's figures. The full breakdown is on the sparkling wine page.

An Australian standard drink is 10 g of alcohol, so standard drinks here are the grams of alcohol divided by 10.

Race-day drinks compared

Melbourne Cup day falls on the first Tuesday in November. Here is how the usual race-day drinks compare, one serve each, using AUSNUT averages.

Drink (AUSNUT)	Serve	Kilojoules	Standard drinks	Glasses of bubbles, by kJ
Sparkling wine	150 ml glass	459 kJ (110 Cal)	1.5	1.0
White wine	150 ml glass	444 kJ (106 Cal)	1.5	1.0
Mid-strength beer	375 ml can	483 kJ (115 Cal)	1.1	1.1
Full-strength beer	375 ml can	573 kJ (137 Cal)	1.4	1.2
Apple cider	375 ml can	794 kJ (190 Cal)	1.5	1.7
Premixed spirit and cola	375 ml can	1,151 kJ (275 Cal)	1.6	2.5

Per serve, the wines and beers fall between 444 and 573 kJ. The premix can is the outlier: it has about the same alcohol as a glass of bubbles but 2.5 times the kilojoules, because AUSNUT lists 41.3 g of sugar in the can. Premixed spirit and cola and apple cider each have their own page.

Glass, top-up or bottle: why the pour matters

A 750 ml bottle pours five 150 ml glasses. If your glass is topped up before it is empty, you lose count quickly, so count bottles instead.

A bottle shared between two people is 2,283 ÷ 2 = 1,142 kJ (273 Cal) and 3.7 standard drinks each.
Shared between three, it is 761 kJ (182 Cal) and 2.4 standard drinks each.
A 100 ml pour instead of 150 ml saves 153 kJ (37 Cal) and about half a standard drink per glass.

A full day at the races, added up (worked example)

Here is one plausible day from late morning to early evening, using the AUSNUT serves above.

When	Drink	Kilojoules	Standard drinks
Arrival	2 glasses of sparkling wine	918 kJ	2.9
Lunch	1 glass of white wine	444 kJ	1.5
Afternoon	2 cans of premixed spirit and cola	2,302 kJ	3.2
After the last race	1 can of apple cider	794 kJ	1.5
Total	6 drinks	4,458 kJ (1,065 Cal)	9.1

The arithmetic: 918 + 444 + 2,302 + 794 = 4,458 kJ, and 4,458 ÷ 4.184 = 1,065 Cal. At 9.1 standard drinks, that day is more than twice the NHMRC guideline of no more than 4 on any one day, and close to the weekly limit of 10. Any food is on top.

A paced version of the same day: two glasses of sparkling wine, one on arrival and one for the Cup itself, plus a pot of mid-strength beer with lunch and water in between. That is 918 + 367 = 1,285 kJ (307 Cal) and 2.9 + 0.9 = 3.8 standard drinks, inside the daily guideline. The difference from the full day is 3,173 kJ (758 Cal) and 5.3 standard drinks.

Simple ways to pace race day

Decide your number before you arrive. The NHMRC guideline for healthy adults is no more than 4 standard drinks on any one day.
Alternate with water. Plain water has no kilojoules and fills the gap between rounds.
Choose mid-strength. A mid-strength can is 1.1 standard drinks and 483 kJ, against 1.4 and 573 kJ for full-strength.
Skip the top-ups. Finish a glass before the next pour so every glass gets counted.
Read the premix label. Check the standard drinks shown on the can, because stronger premixes carry more than AUSNUT's average of 1.6.

How to log race day in Cal.AI

Cal.AI shows energy in calories (kcal), not kilojoules, so divide each kJ figure by 4.184, or roughly by 4.2. A glass of sparkling wine is 459 ÷ 4.184 = 110 Cal. The kJ to calories guide has quick shortcuts.

Log each drink when it is poured, not at the end of the day.
Scan the barcode on cans. For glasses, use food search or manual entry with the calories for your pour: 110 Cal for 150 ml or 73 Cal for 100 ml.
Use the + control for each repeat round. Once you correct an entry, it is saved for one-tap reuse.
Log race-day food as separate entries, and use Fix Results if a photo scan gets a portion wrong.

Common mistakes

Counting a glass that was topped up three times as one glass.
Treating a premix can like a glass of bubbles. It is 1,151 kJ against 459 kJ.
Forgetting that a 750 ml bottle is 7.3 standard drinks.
Logging the day the next morning from memory. For how standard drinks work across every drink, see standard drinks and kilojoules.

Track race day in Cal.AI Cal.AI is free on iPhone, Apple Watch and Android. Snap a photo, scan a barcode or search any food, then fix anything the AI gets wrong.

Frequently asked questions

How many kilojoules are in a glass of sparkling wine?

Using AUSNUT values, a 150 ml glass of sparkling white wine has 459 kJ (110 Cal) and about 1.5 standard drinks. A smaller 100 ml pour has 306 kJ (73 Cal) and about 1 standard drink. Most of the energy comes from the alcohol: about 426 kJ of the 459 kJ in a full glass.

How many standard drinks are in a bottle of sparkling wine?

AUSNUT's average sparkling wine gives about 7.3 standard drinks in a 750 ml bottle, along with 2,283 kJ (545 Cal). Shared between two people, that is 3.7 standard drinks each, so a shared bottle alone comes close to the NHMRC guideline of no more than 4 standard drinks on any one day.

Is sparkling wine lower in kilojoules than beer?

Per serve it is similar. According to AUSNUT, a 150 ml glass of sparkling wine is 459 kJ, a 375 ml can of mid-strength beer is 483 kJ and a can of full-strength beer is 573 kJ. Premixed spirit and cola is much higher at 1,151 kJ a can, mostly because of its 41.3 g of sugar.

How do I log Melbourne Cup drinks in Cal.AI?

Log each drink as it is poured. Cal.AI shows energy in calories (kcal), not kilojoules, so divide the kJ by 4.184: a 459 kJ glass of sparkling wine is 110 Cal and a 1,151 kJ premix can is 275 Cal. Scan barcodes on cans, and use food search or manual entry for glasses.

Sources

Food Standards Australia New Zealand. AUSNUT 2023 food nutrient database. FSANZ
National Health and Medical Research Council. Australian guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol (2020). NHMRC

Cal.AI TeamWe build Cal.AI, an AI calorie counter for iPhone, Apple Watch and Android. Every number in this article links to its source; see how we research and fact-check. This is general nutrition-tracking guidance, not medical advice.