Does wine evaporate faster than water?

Does Wine Evaporate Faster Than Water?

If you have ever noticed legs or tears forming inside a wine glass, you have seen this fascinating chemistry in action. Alcohol evaporates much faster than water because it has a lower boiling point and weaker intermolecular forces holding its molecules together.

When you swirl a glass of wine, a thin film climbs up the sides. Because the alcohol content in that thin layer vaporizes quickly into the air, the remaining liquid rapidly changes its composition. It becomes much richer in water.

Water has a significantly higher surface tension than alcohol. As the alcohol disappears, the localized increase in water tension causes the liquid to pull together, thicken into droplets, and form heavy streams—commonly known as wine tears—that slide back down into the glass.