How to Know the Difference between Grape Wine Bottles of Different Dizes and Colors

1.Development of Grape wine Bottle

In the beginning, the container for Grape wine was not the commonly used glass bottle, but the pottery pot. It was not until the emergence of glass manufacturing technology in the 17th century that people found that this material was conducive to the long-term storage of Grape wine that glass bottles began to move towards the stage of history. However, due to limited technology, most of the bottle bodies of Grape wine bottles were thick and uneven at that time. With the improvement of bottle making technology, the Grape wine bottle has gradually evolved into a longer and more beautiful shape. This shape is quite exquisite. It is not only convenient for Grape wine lying down and aging, but also easy for Grape wine stacking and transportation.

2.Grape wine bottles of different shapes

In the development of Grape wine bottles, many production areas have gradually formed their own commonly used Grape wine bottle types out of consideration of tradition and actual needs. Among them, the bottle types in some production areas are also widely used in other areas, such as Bordeaux bottle, Burgundy bottle and hawk bottle.

2.1Bordeaux bottle 

Bordeaux bottle straight shoulder. Grape wine bottles of different colors contain different types of Grape wine: dry red in dark green Grape wine bottles, dry white in light green Grape wine bottles, and sweet white in white Grape wine bottles. This kind of Grape wine bottle is also often used by Grape wine merchants in New World countries to hold Bordeaux blended style Grape wines. Italian Grape wines such as Chianti are also commonly used in Bordeaux bottles.

2.2Burgundy bottle

The Burgundy bottle has a slanted shoulder. The bottle body is round, thick and solid. The bottle body is slightly larger than ordinary Grape wine bottles. It is usually used to hold some mellow and fragrant Grape wines. The color of this Grape wine bottle is green whether it is used to hold red Grape wine or white Grape wine. Usually, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Grape wines in New World countries are filled in Burgundy bottles; Burgundy bottles are also commonly used for more rich Grape wines such as Barolo and barbaresco in Italy, and Burgundy bottles are also commonly used for Grape wines in the Loire Valley and Languedoc.

2.3Rhone River bottle

The Rhone bottle is similar to the Burgundy bottle, but its circumference is slightly different. Generally speaking, the Rhone bottle is not as big as the Burgundy bottle. In addition, some Rhone bottles have shield badges on their necks, especially Chateau Neuf Du pape. Shiraz in New World countries is often filled in this bottle.

2.4Champagne bottle

The champagne bottle is a beautiful flute. The bottle body is specially designed according to the characteristics and style of champagne. The bottle has thick wall, inclined shoulder and concave bottom, and can withstand high pressure of 80-90 PA. In addition, the bottle stopper is a seven layer closed design, which can tightly seal the Grape wine bottle once it is inserted into the bottleneck. Both "new world" and "old world" sparkling Grape wines are filled in this bottle.

2.5Hock(including Rhine, Alsace or Mosel bottles) 

There are two kinds of hock bottles, one is the Alsace bottle or Mosel bottle with green body, and the other is the Rhine bottle with brown body. Alsace or Mosel bottles are tall and thin, and contain different Grape wine styles, from dry to semi dry to sweet. Therefore, only by looking at the Grape wine label can you know the mystery in the bottle. The shape of Rhine bottle is similar to that of Alsace bottle, which mainly contains Grape wine from Rhine.

3.Colorful Grape wine bottles

In the early stage, because the glass manufacturing technology was not mature enough, all glass products contained some iron containing compounds, so they showed green, and Grape wine bottles were no exception. Later, people gradually found that green Grape wine bottles can block a certain strong light, which is conducive to the storage of liquor. Therefore, green is still used today and has become the most common Grape wine bottle color. At the same time, with the progress of science and technology and the diversification of producers' demand for Grape wine bottles, brown and transparent Grape wine bottles also came into being. Brown Grape wine bottle can filter more harmful light, suitable for long-term aging Grape wine; The transparent Grape wine bottle can highlight the color and clarity of the liquor. It is often used to hold white Grape wine and pink Grape wine.

It is worth mentioning that although the dark Grape wine bottle has strong shading ability, which is more conducive to the aging storage of Grape wine, this does not mean that the Grape wine in the dark Grape wine bottle must be suitable for aging. Many Grape wines with average quality will also use green and brown Grape wine bottles. On the contrary, the Grape wines in transparent bottles are not necessarily inferior in quality. Some high-quality sweet white Grape wines, such as the famous Chateau d'yquem, Sauternes, France, use transparent bottles. Generally speaking, Grape wine bottle color is usually related to regional traditions and can not be used as a basis for judging Grape wine quality.

4.Grape wine bottles of different sizes

On the market, Grape wine bottles may be different in height, fat and thin, but most of their specifications are 750ml. This is determined by historical reasons: in the 17th century, Britain was the largest importer of Bordeaux Grape wine, but the customary units of measurement in Britain and France were different. Bordeaux used liter and Britain used gallon. For the convenience of calculation, people take the capacity of Bordeaux small oak barrel - 50 gallons (225 liters) as the unified transportation unit. At the same time, because the bottle making technology was not mature at that time, the capacity of the glass bottle depended on the capacity that the blowing workers could blow at one breath, usually between 650-850ml. Later, when people could accurately control the capacity of glass bottles, they chose 750ml, which was close to the previous capacity and could divide 50 gallons of Grape wine into 300 bottles.

The fresh taste of Grape wine in large bottles is more lasting than that in small bottles, because large bottles can slow down the aging rate of Grape wine. However, this is also one of the disadvantages of large bottled Grape wine. Because the liquor ripens too slowly, we need to wait patiently for it to mature, and we should "be happy for all" rather than "be happy alone". Several common types of Grape wine bottles are: Piccolo / split (187.5ml), Demi / half (375ml), standard (750ml), magnum (1.5L), double magnum (3.0L), Jeroboam (3L or 5L), Imperial (6.0l), etc.