In Praise of “Large Format” Bottles

There is a statistic out there in the wine world that states that over 90 percent of the wine bought today will be consumed within six months of the purchase. However, if you are one of the minority consumers that are looking to “lay-down” some age-worthy wine and hold onto it for a while, you may want to consider investing in large format bottles.

Ranging in capacities from two bottles to over 20, large format bottles offer some real advantages over traditional 750 ml bottles when it comes to aging potential. Most notably, you can expect the wine to remain drinkable for a lot longer than a smaller bottle stored under ideal conditions. Many of you may know that wine is aged though the chemical process of oxidation, and the empty space in the top of every wine bottle, (called ullage), contains a small amount of oxygen. Because a larger bottle has less oxygen relative to the wine volume, the wine oxidizes slower, which often translates into better maturation and a higher quality wine. In addition, large format bottles have much thicker glass, which helps protect the wine from temperature variations that can affect the quality and aging ability of the wine.

But, like anything else, there are some drawbacks to consider when purchasing large format wine bottles. For one thing, they are usually more expensive by volume than their single bottle counterparts. Part of this premium pricing is driven by their relative rarity, as well as the fact that the wine will age better, as discussed above. The other major drawback is that once the bottle is open, it needs to be consumed within a short period of time, like any other wine. But, if you have the right gathering of people who appreciate fine wine, a large format bottle, impressive in size and quality might be the perfect choice.

Below is a list of the large format bottle sizes, their volumes and common names:

• Magnum, 1.5 Liter

• Double Magnum, 3 Liter, Bordeaux and Port

• Jeroboam, 3 Liter, Burgundy and Champagne

• Rehoboam, 4.5 Liter, Champagne

• Imperial, 6 Liter, Bordeaux

• Methuselah, 6 Liter, Burgundy and Champagne

• Salmanazar, 9 Liter, Champagne

• Balthazar, 12 Liter, Champagne

• Nebuchadnezzar, 15 Liter, Champagne

The following bottles are very rare:

• Melchior, 18 Liter

• Solomon, 20 Liter

• Sovereign, 25.5 Liter

• Primat, 27 Liter

Lastly, if you are wondering how big a wine bottle can actually be, it appears that the current record is held by a Chinese winery named Wang Chen Winery, located in Liaoning, Northern China. The massive bottle is over 15 feet tall, and contains over 1,850 liters of their signature Ice Wine.

WINE:30 is written by Karl Bradley and Jody Wuollett. Karl is the general manager and self-proclaimed “sous” sommelier for the Mission Grille. Former restaurant executive and Door County native Jody is happily under-employed as a Mission Grille food server and a member of the local band Northbound.