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Wine Recommendations and Stories
"Wine bottle sizes"
The older French wine bottles most likely hold 0.80 liters, a common
measure for Burgundy, Champagne and Rhone before 1945. The newer ones hold 0.75 liters.
That's the measure used for Bordeaux and most Californian wines too.
WINE BOTTLE SIZES
Wine is made in casks or tanks and then filled into
bottles. One would think there is a norm, a common standard for bottle sizes used all over
the world. There is not, at least not yet. Looking at the bottle can give the consumer an
indication where a certain wine was bottled. With German wines, if it's in a round short
bottle, a so-called Bocksbeutel, its a Frankenwine. One can safely assume that Moselwine
is not sold in brown bottles with long necks and Rhine wine not in green bottles. With the
French wines one can be sure that Bordeaux wines are never bottled in Burgundy shape
bottles and Burgundy wine growers would never think of offering their wine in Bordeaux
style bottles.
So far about bottle shapes. Now about sizes: Most
German wine bottles are 0.70 liters. Some bottles from Alsace are 0.72 liters.
The older French wine bottles most likely hold 0.80
liters, a common measure for Burgundy, Champagne and Rhone before 1945. The newer ones
hold 0.75 liters. That's the measure used for Bordeaux and most Californian wines too.
There are other common measures like the liter bottle
and the 0.70 liter bottle. If unsure look underneath the bottle, it usually states the
size on the bottom. Now about the bigger sizes, usually these are show bottles and more
decorative than practical and I suggest always check the bottom of the bottle to know
exactly what you have if you want to know the bottle's size.
The table below is nothing but a quick reference guide
to the names of larger than usual bottles:
| Common name: |
Approximate
contents in bottles: (Possible origins of
the names below) |
| Magnum |
2 bottles |
| Tregnum or tappit-hen |
3 bottles |
| Jeroboam (Champagne) |
4 bottles
( large bottle, large bowl,
engl.slang as per 1950 unabridged Webster dictionary) |
| Double Magnum |
4 bottles |
| Rehoboam |
6 bottles (a very large bowl, bottle container, as per 1950 unabridged Webster
dictionary) |
| Methusaleh (Champagne) |
8 bottles (the bigger the bottle the longer quality wine or champagne will be
be able to age, in the biggest Champagne bottle one assumed wine could reach Methusaleh
ages) |
| Imperiale |
8-9 bottles (english measurement) |
| Salmanazer |
approx. 12 bottles (from Salma, a measure of capacity used in Italy and Sicily, as per 1950
unabridged Webster dictionary) |
| Balthazar |
approx. 16 bottles (King standing for king-size) |
| Nebuchadnezzar |
approx. 20 bottles (King of Babylon standing for biggest king-size ever made) |

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updated
07/04/08
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