Ever wondered who the nerd was that decided putting wine in a glass container would be a good idea? What ever happened to the wine skins used in biblical days for storing wine? Is the shape of a wine bottle more than just an eye-catching ploy designed to tempt one into buying a brand of wine or could it provide a clue as to the origins of the fluid inside? Read on for a demystifying piece of wine knowledge.
Before the advent of wine bottles, wine was stored in clay flasks known as Amorphae during the glory days of Egyptian wine makers in Mesopotamia thousands of years ago.
Somehow, giving your friends wine as a gift would not feel quite the same if it were stored in a clay flask now, would it? It was the Romans who first invented glass blowing and, eventually, the first to store wine in a wine bottle when it was discovered that glass did not affect the wine's flavor.
As time passed, colored glass and different sizes and types of wine bottles were used.
Among the most popular shapes of wine bottle was an onion shaped container because it was easy to blow.
Eventually, wine makers learned that it was better to store wine on its side because this helped the wine age properly.
With this, longer and flatter shaped wine bottles became the norm.
This was how the standard sizes of 700ml, 750ml, and 800ml wine bottles came about.
In 1945, places like Burgundy and Champagne became famous for its 800ml bottles, the biggest wine bottles at the time.
Meanwhile, the town called Beaujolais made its mark on the world thanks to its pot-shaped 500ml wine bottles.
In 1979, the USA issued instructions calling for all wine bottles in the country to be 750ml.
Countries in Europe were also deciding on a single standard wine bottle size.
Many countries decided to adopt the 750ml wine bottle as its standard so that it would be easier to sell their wares in the USA.
Today, the shape of wine bottles depend on their contents and their place of origin.
High-shouldered bottles with straight sides are usually the norm for Bordeaux, Port and sherry.
Those high bottles with sloping shoulders are for Rhone and Burgundies.
Tall and narrow bottles are used for Rhine.
There's also the Bocksbeutel-shaped bottle that is used for Germany's high-quality wines.
Would you believe that Germany also has a popular wine bottle that is shaped like a cat? It's used for Riesling.
Not forgetting the different colors of wine bottles available in the market and what they represent.
There are light green bottles (dry white Bordeaux), medium green bottles (Mosel and Alscae), dark green bottles (Burgundy, Rhine and red Bordeaux), amber bottles (Mosel and Alsace) and clear bottles (sweet white Bordeaux and white wines from Canada, New Zealand and Greece).
Before the advent of wine bottles, wine was stored in clay flasks known as Amorphae during the glory days of Egyptian wine makers in Mesopotamia thousands of years ago.
Somehow, giving your friends wine as a gift would not feel quite the same if it were stored in a clay flask now, would it? It was the Romans who first invented glass blowing and, eventually, the first to store wine in a wine bottle when it was discovered that glass did not affect the wine's flavor.
As time passed, colored glass and different sizes and types of wine bottles were used.
Among the most popular shapes of wine bottle was an onion shaped container because it was easy to blow.
Eventually, wine makers learned that it was better to store wine on its side because this helped the wine age properly.
With this, longer and flatter shaped wine bottles became the norm.
This was how the standard sizes of 700ml, 750ml, and 800ml wine bottles came about.
In 1945, places like Burgundy and Champagne became famous for its 800ml bottles, the biggest wine bottles at the time.
Meanwhile, the town called Beaujolais made its mark on the world thanks to its pot-shaped 500ml wine bottles.
In 1979, the USA issued instructions calling for all wine bottles in the country to be 750ml.
Countries in Europe were also deciding on a single standard wine bottle size.
Many countries decided to adopt the 750ml wine bottle as its standard so that it would be easier to sell their wares in the USA.
Today, the shape of wine bottles depend on their contents and their place of origin.
High-shouldered bottles with straight sides are usually the norm for Bordeaux, Port and sherry.
Those high bottles with sloping shoulders are for Rhone and Burgundies.
Tall and narrow bottles are used for Rhine.
There's also the Bocksbeutel-shaped bottle that is used for Germany's high-quality wines.
Would you believe that Germany also has a popular wine bottle that is shaped like a cat? It's used for Riesling.
Not forgetting the different colors of wine bottles available in the market and what they represent.
There are light green bottles (dry white Bordeaux), medium green bottles (Mosel and Alscae), dark green bottles (Burgundy, Rhine and red Bordeaux), amber bottles (Mosel and Alsace) and clear bottles (sweet white Bordeaux and white wines from Canada, New Zealand and Greece).
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