While the average glass held just 66ml in the 1700s now they can hold more than six times that at 449ml.
And wine consumption increased almost four-fold between 1960 and 1980, before nearly doubling again between 1980 and 2004, the team from the University of Cambridge found.
Beer and spirits were the most common forms of alcohol drunk until midway through the 20th century.
Professor Theresa Marteau, Director of the Behaviour and Health Research Unit at the University of Cambridge, said: “Wine will no doubt be a feature of some merry Christmas nights, but when it comes to how much we drink, wine glass size probably does matter.”
Researchers met with antique glassware experts, museum curators and used online searches to obtain measurements from 411 glasses from 1700 to 2017.
And the study showed a vast increase in the size of glasses, with the average holding just 66ml in the 1700s, compared to 417mls in the 2000s, and 449ml in 2016/17.
Glassware size increased gradually, with the average glass holding more than 100ml in the early 1800s, 140ml around 1850, 180ml in 1950 and 200ml in the 1970s.
And bars are increasingly offering 250ml servings.
This may increase the pleasure of drinking wine and could increase the desire to drink more, researchers say.
Study author Dr Zorana Zupan said: “Wine glasses became a common receptacle from which wine was drunk around 1700.
“This followed the development of lead crystal glassware by George Ravenscroft in the late 17th century, which led to the manufacture of less fragile and larger glasses than was previously possible.
“Our findings suggest that the capacity of wine glasses in England increased significantly over the past 300 years.
“For the most part, this was gradual, but since the 1990s, the size has increased rapidly. Whether this led to the rise in wine consumption in England, we can’t be certain, but a wine glass 300 years ago would only have held about a half of today’s measure.
“On top of this, we also have some evidence that suggests wine glass size itself influences consumption.”