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People who often feel light-headed just after their first glass of wine may not be surprised to learn that wine contains more alcohol than what is claimed by the manufacturers. This can put the health of drinkers at risk and raise the chance of being over the drink and drive limit. Researchers at the University of California took samples of more than 100,000 bottles of wine all over the world and discovered that the alcohol content in almost 60% bottles was on an average 0.42% higher than the number mentioned on the label. Apparently, the wine makers are also aware of the discrepancy. The researchers said that the manufacturers alter the percentage of alcohol on the wine labels to meet the expectations of the customers. Overall, according to the study, the Chilean and the Spanish wines had the largest error margin between the actual content and the percentage stated on the bottle, reported Daily Mail.

"A discrepancy of 0.4 percentage points might not seem large relative to an actual value of 13.6 per cent alcohol by volume, but even errors of this magnitude could lead consumers to underestimate the amount of alcohol they have consumed in ways that could have some consequences for their health and driving safety," said lead author Professor Julian Alston, of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of California Davis. "In particular instances the discrepancies could be much larger than average. An average error of 0.4 percentage points is much more significant compared with the typical range for wines in a particular category, for instance, Napa Valley Cabernet might be expected to have alcohol content within the range of 13.5-14.5 per cent alcohol by volume, and an average error of 0.4 percentage points is large in the context of this range," Telegraph reports