Pages

Friday, July 19, 2013

Wine Bottle Sizes - Bigger is Better

Wine Bottle Sizes - Bigger (Sometimes Smaller) is Better

Millenium Vintage Release
Salmanazar served at
daughter Erin's wedding.
Republished from my Winesite. Big bottles are fun! They're great for parties, gala dinners, and of course especially for celebrating special occasions.  There are 13 different bottle sizes. The larger sized bottles are produced in less quantity than the standard size bottle, and are typically worth more than just the proportionate incremental size price of the regular size bottle. 

Champagne* is most popular and common in using larger bottles. We've all seen champions such as Formula 1 Race winners shaking and spraying the large bottles of Champagne from the winner's podium, the World Series and NBA locker rooms, and so on.... Moreso, we've seen the smaller format bottles which provide the convenience of portion size packaging such as for use on airplanes or as available in wine shops for individual dining or such as for picnics. Another great use of small format bottles is when conducting a tasting of several wines, smaller bottles allow for more choices. Our friend Andy M has been known to show up at a wine tasting with a six pack corrugated carton containing half-bottles (375ml) of quality vintage wines.

The magnum is a double sized bottle (1.5 liters) and is one of the best selling sized bottles for Champagne. Many California Cabernet Sauvignons, Red Bordeaux, and Red Burgundies are produced and collected in large (r) formats. It is generally accepted that wine will age better - longer, more gracefully and uniformly in a large format bottle - hence their popularity with collectors. There is also great novelty and fun in opening and serving a large bottle. Often for special occasions, one will have all the quests sign the label of a large bottle as the labels are proportionately larger with the large bottles allowing room for such celebratory signings. Look for large format bottles in the wine rooms and special bottle rack in quality wine shops.

The novelty of our Rick's large format bottles and labels from the vintage years of our kid's birth years was the basis for our feature in Wine Spectator Magazine. This provides a great combination of birth year wines and large formats for gala celebrations. (We're now monitoring the recent vintages, birth years of our new grandchildren).
 
Horizontal Selection of 1981 Bordeaux and California large format bottles from Rick's Cellar
Served at daughter Erin and Johnny's wedding
Not shown: 1981 Chateau Palmer, Lynch Bages, Ducru Beaucaillou, Cos' d_Estournel, Chateau Beaucatel
and Silver Oak large format bottles.

Large format bottles in legendary chef's restaurant cellar in Chicago.

The 13 Standard Bordeaux/California Bottle Sizes

SPLIT
Made only for Sparkling Wine.
187 ml.
1/4 of a standard bottle
HALF-BOTTLE
375 ml.
1/2 of a standard bottle
BOTTLE
750 ml.
1 standard bottle
MAGNUM 1.5 liters Equal to 2 standard bottles.
DOUBLE MAGNUM 3 liters Equal to 4 standard bottles.
JEROBOAM - This is what Champagne and Burgundy call their 3 liter bottles. Equal to 4 standard bottles.
REHOBOAM About 4.5 liters. Equal to 6 standard bottles.
JEROBOAM 5 liters Equal to about 6 3/4 standard bottles.
IMPERIAL 6 liters Equal to 8 standard bottles.
METHUSALEM - This is what they call an "Imperial" in Champagne and Burgundy.
SALMANAZER
This one is a case of wine in one bottle.
9 liters
12 standard bottles.
BALTHAZAR
12 liters.
Equal to 16 standard bottles.
NEBUCHADNEZZAR
12 to 16 liters
Depending on the country of origin this will be from 16 to 20 standard bottles. 
SOVERIGN
50 liters
67 standard bottles.

rd Champagne Bottle Sizes
The Standard Champagne* Bottle Sizes

Bottle Name Bottle Equivalency Capacity
Split
1/4 bottle
18.7 cl
Half
1/2 bottle
37.5 cl
Bottle
1 bottle
750 ml
Magnum
2 bottles
1.5 l
Jeroboam
4 bottles
3 l
Rehoboam
6 bottles
4.5 l
Methuselah
8 bottles
6 l
12 bottles
9 l
Balthazar
16 bottles
12 l
Nabuchadnezzar
20 bottles
15 l

Display of range of bottles offered at Moet Chandon Champagne House in
Epernay, Champagne, France

* Of course Champagne refers to the wine region in the northeast corner of France known for its world famous sparkling wines. Only wines produced in this geographic area bear the trademarked Champagne designation and label. All others are 'sparkling wine'. Some now claim to be produced using the  méthode champenoise reflecting the traditional method developed in the Champagne region over the centuries for applying secondary fermentation to gain the effervescence or 'sparkling' or bubbles in such wines. 



No comments:

Post a Comment