Have you ever wondered why wine bottles are 75 cl? Would a 1 liter capacity make more sense to you? Find out why wine bottles are 75 cl .
Common ideas about the 75 cl bottle of wine
Very few people really know why wine bottles have a capacity of 75 cl , and not one liter, as that would seem more logical, or at least simpler. We then hear several preconceived ideas about these bottles :
- They would represent the format that the lung capacity of a glassblower could allow;
- They would correspond to the average consumption of wine per meal and per household;
- They would be the ideal format for better conservation of wine...
All these ideas about this singular measure are false, so let's see what the real story of the 75 cl bottle is.
The true story of 75 cl wine bottles
The bottle of wine as we know it today was standardized in the 19th century. At that time, the main customer for French wine estates was England, and the major difficulty lay in converting units of measurement . The English then used the imperial gallon , which corresponded to 4.54609 liters. Suffice to say that the conversion calculations were complex.
So, to simplify the transaction, it was agreed that the wine would be transported in 225 liter barrels , which corresponded to 50 gallons. The goal was to have a round number, to facilitate calculations.
In this same practical spirit, when transport in bottles became widespread, it was agreed to keep the capacity of 225 L or 50 gallons, to obtain a round number of bottles. So, it was decided that the bottle of wine would be 75 cl, so that 300 75 cl bottles would correspond to 50 gallons .
A gallon is then worth 6 bottles of wine. This is why most cases of wine contain 6 or 12 bottles.
Other wine bottle formats
If the 75 cl bottle is the most practical, whether for transport, storage or consumption, there are other wine bottle formats :
- La piccola , with a capacity of 20 centiliters;
- The pint , with a capacity of 25 cl;
- La fillette , or half bottle, with a capacity of 37.5 cl
- The magnum , with a capacity of 1.5 liters;
- The jeroboam , with a capacity of 3 liters (in Bordeaux, the 3 liter bottle is called a double magnum, and the jeroboam has a capacity of 4.5 L);
- The réhoboam , with a capacity of 4.5 L;
- The Methuselah , with a capacity of 6 liters;
- The salmanazar , with a capacity of 9 liters;
- The Balthazar , with a capacity of 12 liters;
- The Nebuchadnezzar , with a capacity of 15 liters;
- The melchior , with a capacity of 18 liters.
The 75 cl bottle of wine is a traditional format that is practical for everyday use, but larger formats are also interesting for a big event, or to obtain a beautiful collector's item. Discover the wines of Provence from the Domaine de Berne in different formats.
