Wine bottle
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2008-07-15T23:51:09Z
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/* Sizes */
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Languedoc wines.JPG|right|thumb|Examples of [[Burgundy wine|Burgundy]](left) and [[Bordeaux wine|Bordeaux]] style wine bottles from the [[Languedoc]].]] -->
[[Image:DSCN2564.JPG|thumb|right|300px|A bottle showing the translucent green of many wine bottles]]
A '''wine bottle''' is a [[bottle]] used for holding wine, generally made of [[glass]]. Some [[wine]]s are [[fermentation (wine)|fermented]] in the bottle, others are bottled only after fermentation. They come in a large variety of sizes, several named for [[Bible|Biblical]] kings and other figures. The standard bottle contains 750 [[litre|mL]], although this is a relatively recent development. Wine bottles are usually sealed with [[cork (material)|cork]], but screw-top caps are becoming popular, and there are several [[alternative wine closures|other methods]] used to seal a bottle.<ref name="Johnson000">{{cite book
| title = The Story of Wine
| first = Hugh
| last = Johnson
| publisher = Sterling Publishing
| year = 2004
| id = ISBN 1840009721
}}</ref><ref name="Jackson000">{{cite book
| title = Conserve Water, Drink Wine: Recollections of a Vinous Voyage of Discovery
| first = Ron
| last = Jackson
| publisher = Haworth Press
| year = 1997
| id = ISBN 1560228644
}}</ref><ref name="MacNeil000">{{cite book
| title = The Wine Bible
| first = Karen
| last = MacNeil
| publisher = Workman
| year = 2001
| id = ISBN 1563054345
}}</ref>
==Sizes==
[[Image:Veuve clicquot bottle sizes.jpg|right|thumb|Side-by-side comparison of [[wine bottle|champagne bottles]]. (L to R) On ladder: [[magnum]], full, half, quarter. On floor: [[Balthazar]], [[Salmanazar]], [[Methuselah]], [[Jeroboam]] ]]
The chart below<ref>[http://www.awinestore.com/pages.php?pageid=9&mode=preview#7 Wine 101 :: AWinestore.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> expresses the sizes of various wine bottles in multiples relating to a standard bottle of wine, which is 0.75 [[litres]].
{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" class="wikitable"
|+
!rowspan="2"|Bottle Name||rowspan="2"|Name's Origin||Champagne||Bordeaux||Burgundy||rowspan="2"|Volume<br><small>in [[Litre]]s</small>
|-
!colspan="3"|Equivalent standard bottles
|-
|Piccolo<sup>a</sup>|| "Small" in Italian || ¼ || n/a || n/a || 0.1875
|-
|Chopine || Traditional [[French units of measurement#Liquid measures|French unit of volume]] || n/a || ⅓ || n/a || 0.250
|-
|Demi<sup>b</sup> || "Half" in French || ½ || ½ || ½ || 0.375
|-
|Jennie<sup>c</sup> ||"White Spirit" in Welsh || n/a || n/a || n/a || 0.5
|-
|Clavelin<sup>d</sup> || || n/a || n/a || n/a || 0.620
|-
|Standard || || 1 || 1 || 1 || 0.750
|-
|Fifth<sup>e</sup>|| One-fifth of a [[United States customary units#Liquid volume|U.S. gallon]]|| n/a || n/a || n/a || 0.757
|-
|Magnum || || 2 || 2 || 2 || 1.5
|-
|Marie Jeanne<sup>f</sup> || || n/a || 3 || n/a || 2.25
|-
|Double Magnum || || 4 || 4 || n/a || 3.0
|-
|Jeroboam || [[Jeroboam|Biblical, First king of Northern Kingdom]]|| 4 || 6 || 4 || 3.0/4.5
|-
|Rehoboam || [[Rehoboam|Biblical, First king of separate Judea]]|| 6 || n/a || 6 || 4.5
|-
|Imperial || || n/a || 8 || n/a || 6.0
|-
|Methuselah || [[Methuselah|Biblical, Oldest Man]] ||8 || n/a || 8 || 6.0
|-
|Salmanazar ||[[Shalmaneser|Biblical, Assyrian King]]|| 12 || n/a || 12 || 9.0
|-
|Balthazar || [[Balthazar|Biblical, one of the Wise Men]] || 16 || 16 || 16 || 12.0
|-
|Nebuchadnezzar|| [[Nebuchadnezzar|Biblical, King of Babylon]] || 20 || 20 || 20 || 15.0
|-
|Melchior || [[Melchior|Biblical, one of the Wise Men]] || 24 || 24 || 24 || 18.0
|-
|Solomon || [[Solomon|Biblical, King of Israel, Son of David]] || 28 || n/a || n/a || 20.0
|-
|Sovereign || || 33⅓ || n/a || n/a || 25.0
|-
|Primat || || 36 || n/a || n/a || 27.0
|-
|Melchizedek || [[Melchizedek|Biblical and other middle-east religions]] || 40 || n/a || n/a || 30.0
|-
|Maximus<ref>[http://www.radio.cz/en/article/60696 All hail 'Maximus,' the world's largest bottle of wine - 26-11-2004 - Radio Prague<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www.traveltowinecountry.com/articles/napa_valley/maximus.htm Maximus - World's Largest Bottle of Wine<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2004_July_29/ai_n6132063 This is a Wine Bottle! World's Largest Wine Bottle Holds over 173 Bottles of Beringer Vineyards Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon | Business Wire | Find Articles at BNET.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> || The latin word "[[Maximus]]". || n/a || 173⅓ || n/a || 130.0
|}
<sup>a</sup> Also known as a ''quarter bottle'', ''pony'', ''snipe'' or ''split''.<br/>
<sup>b</sup> Also known as a ''half bottle''.<br/>
<sup>c</sup> Also known as a ''500ml bottle''. Used for Tokaj, Sauternes, Jerez, as well as several other types of sweet wines.<br/>
<sup>d</sup> Primarily used for [[vin jaune]].<br/>
<sup>e</sup> For many years, the [[United States|U.S.]] standard (non-[[Metric system|metric]]) wine and [[liquor]] bottle was the "fifth", meaning one-fifth of a [[United States customary units#Liquid volume|U.S. gallon]], or 25.6 U.S. fluid ounces, or approximately 757ml. Some beverages also came in half-gallon and one-gallon sizes.
In 1979, the U.S. adopted the [[metric system]] for wine bottles, with the basic bottle becoming 750ml, as in [[Europe]].<br/>
<sup>f</sup> Also known as a Tregnum or Tappit Hen in the port wine trade.
<!-- Other source ===Champagne===
*Quarter-bottle (piccolo, pony, or fairhead): from 0.187 L to 0.2 L
*Half-bottle (demiboite): 0.375 L
*Standard bottle 0.75 L
*Magnum: 1.5 L (equiv. 2 Bottles)
*Jeroboam: 3 L (equiv. 4 Bottles)
*Rehoboam: 4.5 L (equiv. 6 Bottles)
*Methuselah: 6 L (equiv. 8 Bottles)
*Salmanazar: 9 L (equiv. 12 Bottles)
*Balthazar: 12 L (equiv. 16 Bottles)
*Nebuchadnezzar: 15 L (equiv. 20 Bottles)
*Melchior (also called Solomon): 18 L (equiv. 24 Bottles)
*Sovereign: 25 L (equiv. 33 1/3 Bottles)
*Primat: 27 L (equiv. 36 Bottles)
*Melchizedek: 30 L (equiv. 40 Bottles)-->
<!-- *Murgatroyd: 50 L (equiv. 66 2/3 Bottles)<ref>{{cite web
| url=http://www.champagne.com/dico/liste-en.html#bottlecapacities
| title = Keywords - Bottle Capacities
| accessdate = 2007-05-23 }}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=July 2007}} *** suspect hoax ??? -->
<!-- other source ===Other wines and port===
[[Image:DSCN2564.JPG|thumb|right|300px|A bottle showing the translucent green of many wine bottles]]
*Split: 0.187 L
*Half-bottle: 0.375 L
*Standard: 0.75 L<ref>Sometimes referred to as a "fifth", the old US value of 0.2 [[gallon|gal]] or 0.757 L.</ref>
*Magnum: 1.5 L
*Double Magnum: 3 L
*Jeroboam: 4.5 L<ref>Size is different from champagne Jeroboams. There are also some 5 L variants.</ref>
*Rheoboam: 4.5 L
*Box: 5 L
*Imperial: 6 L
*Salmanazar: 9 L
*Balthazar: 12 L
*Nebuchadnezzar: 15 L
*Melchior 18 L-->
<!-- *Murgatroyd 50 L{{Fact|date=July 2007}} *** suspect hoax ??? -->
==Shapes==
[[Image:Bocksbeutel bottle.jpg|thumb|200px|Bocksbeutel shaped Wine Bottle]]
[[Image:Burgundy bottles.jpg|thumb|200px|Burgundy bottles]]
Wine producers in [[Portugal]], [[Italy]], [[Spain]], [[France]] and [[Germany]] follow the tradition of their local areas in choosing the shape of bottle most appropriate for their wine.
*[[Port wine|Port]], [[sherry]], and [[Bordeaux wine|Bordeaux]] varieties: straight-sided and high-shouldered with a pronounced punt. Port and sherry bottles may have a bulbous neck to collect any residue.
*[[Burgundy wine|Burgundies]] and [[Rhône (wine region)|Rhône]] varieties: tall bottles with sloping shoulders and a smaller punt.
*[[Rheingau|Rhine]] (also known as [[hock (wine)|hock]] or hoch), [[Mosel wine|Mosel]], and [[Alsace wine|Alsace]] varieties: narrow and tall with little or no punt.
*[[Champagne (wine)|Champagne]] and other sparkling wines: thick-walled and wide with a pronounced punt and sloping shoulders.
*In [[Germany]] the [[:de:Bocksbeutel|Bocksbeutel]] bottle shape is generally reserved for higher-quality wines from Franconia. (See [[:de:Frankenwein|Frankenwein (in German)]])
Many North and South American, South African, and Australasian wine producers select the bottle shape they wish to associate their wines with. For instance, a producer who believes his wine is similar to Burgundy may choose to bottle his wine in Burgundy-style bottles.
Other producers (both in and out of Europe) have chosen idiosyncratic bottle styles for marketing purposes. Pere-Anselme markets its [[Châteauneuf-du-Pape]] in bottles that appear half-melted. The [http://www.moselland.de/275.0.html?&L=1 Moselland company] of Germany has a [[riesling]] with a bottle in the shape of a house cat.
The home [[wine making|wine maker]] may use any bottle, as the shape of the bottle does not affect the taste of the finished product. The sole exception is in producing [[sparkling wine]], where thicker-walled bottles should be used to handle the excess pressure.
==Colors==
[[Image:Wine mt markey.jpg|250px|thumb|right| Bottles of Wine]]
The traditional colors used for wine bottles are:
*Bordeaux: dark green for reds, light green for dry whites, clear for sweet whites.
*Burgundy and the Rhone: dark green.
*Mosel and Alsace: dark to medium green, although some producers have traditionally used amber.
*Rhine: amber, although some producers have traditionally used green.
Clear bottles have recently become popular with white wine producers in many countries, including [[Greece]], [[Canada]] and [[New Zealand]]. Most red wine worldwide is still bottled in green glass.
==Capsules==
Most wine bottles finished with a cork (as opposed to a screwcap) have a protective sleeve called a capsule (commonly referred to as a "foil") covering the top of the bottle. Capsules were historically made of [[lead]], and protected the [[cork (material)|cork]] from being gnawed away by [[rodent]]s or infested with [[cork weevil]]. Because of research showing that trace amounts of toxic lead could remain on the lip of the bottle and mix with the poured wine[http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE5DC173EF931A3575BC0A967958260], lead capsules (lead foil bottleneck wrappings) were slowly phased out, and by the 1990s[http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/ANS00446.html], most capsules were made of [[tin]], heat-shrink plastic ([[polyethylene]] or [[PVC]]), or [[aluminum]]. Sealing wax is sometimes used, or the capsule can be omitted entirely, since it is not needed with some modern stoppers[http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tswa031027.phtml]. In the US, the FDA finally officially banned lead foil capsules on domestic and imported wine bottles as of 1996[http://law.justia.com/us/cfr/title21/21-3.0.1.1.16.4.1.6.html].
==Punts==
A punt, also known as a kick-up, refers to the dimple at the bottom of a wine bottle. There is no consensus explanation for its purpose. The more commonly cited explanations include:<ref name="Johnson000" />
* it is a symbol that the larger the punts the better the wine
* it is an historical remnant of old-fashioned glass-blowing techniques; By raising the point where the glass-blowers tube is attached, the small imperfection would not scratch the table.
* it had the function of making the bottle less likely to topple over -- a bottle designed with a flat bottom only needs a small imperfection to make it unstable -- the dimple historically allowed for a larger margin of error;
* it consolidates sediment deposits in a thick ring at the bottom of the bottle, preventing it from being poured into the glass;<ref>This may be more historical than a functional attribute, since most modern wines contain little or no sediment. (MacNeil 2001)</ref>
* it allows a bottle of sparkling wine to be turned upside-down and then stacked (depending on its shape);
* it increases the strength of the bottle, allowing it to hold the high pressure of sparkling wine/champagne;
* it can make the bottle look bigger, impressing purchasers
* it holds the bottles in place on pegs of a conveyor belt as they go through the filling process in manufacturing plants; and
* it accommodates the pourer's thumb for stability and ease of pouring.
* According to legend the punt was used by servants. They often knew more than their master about what was happening in town, and with a thumb up the punt they could show their master whether a guest was reliable or not. [http://www.vinavisen.dk/vinavisen/website.nsf/Pages/DenneUge21 (Vinavisen 19 may 2008 - danish)]
==Environmental impact==
{{seealso|Glass container industry}}
Glass retains its colour on [[glass recycling|recycling]], and the [[United Kingdom]] has a large surplus of green glass because it imports a large quantity of wine but [[Wine from the United Kingdom|produces very little]]. 1.4m [[tonne]]s are sent to [[landfill]] annually.<ref name="guardian">
{{cite news |work=[[The Guardian]] |title=Is it OK ... to drink wine? |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2006/may/09/ethicalmoney.foodanddrink |date=[[2006-05-09]] |accessdate=2007-11-22 |first=Leo |last=Hickman }}
</ref>
Glass is a relatively heavy packing material and wine bottles use quite thick glass, so the [[tare weight]] of a full wine bottle is a relatively high proportion of its [[gross weight]]. This has led to suggestions that wine should be exported [[bulk material handling|in bulk]] from producer regions and bottled close to the market. This would reduce the cost of transportation and its [[carbon footprint]], and provide a local market for recycled green glass.<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.wme.com.au/categories/waste_managemt/aug4_06.php |title=Carbon copy |first=Garth |last=Lamb |publisher=Waste Management & Environment |quote=If wine was imported in bulk vats and then bottled locally, the market for the most beneficial recycling option would increase. |accessdate=2007-11-22 }}
</ref><ref>
{{cite press release |url=http://britglass.org.uk/NewsEvents/BGNewsCurrent/NewWineBottleProject.html |title=New Wine Bottle Project |publisher=British Glass |date=[[15 September]] 2006 |accessdate=2007-11-22 }}
</ref> Less radically, [[box wine]] is sold in large-size light cardboard and foil containers; though its use is restricted to cheaper products.
==Notes and references==
{{reflist}}
==See also==
* [[Glass Container Industry]]
* [[Tunc]]
* [[Alternative wine closures]]
==External links==
{{commonscat|Wine bottles}}
*[http://cellarnotes.net/bottleshapes.html Wine Bottle Shapes], from CellarNotes
*[http://www.thewinedoctor.com/advisory/buystorebottleshapes.shtml Wine Bottle Shapes], from The Wine Doctor
*[http://www.maisons-champagne.com/traduction/english/bonal_gb/pages/05/05-07_2_gb.htm Jeroboam used as early as 1725], from maisons-champagne.com
[[Category:Wine packaging and storage]]
[[Category:Glass bottles]]
[[Category:Recyclable materials]]
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