In your basic mid-America wine shop you really only encounter 2 basic wine bottle sizes: 750 ml and 1.5 l and OK the occasional 3l cardboard box. For those of you not versed in the metric system (Wine Witch definitely in this number), 750 ml is approximately 25 oz. The average glass of wine is about 6 oz, so you can readily see the conventional wisdom that one regular bottle of wine yields 4 glasses.
However, there are a whole range of super sized bottles out there, mostly reserved for your finer French offerings. The really interesting thing here is that these bottles have biblical names. History is a little vague on the reasoning, but this has been going on since at least 1725 in Bordeaux. These wines are sadly out of my price range, but experts maintain that the larger bottles yield better results over time for age worthy wines. Just for giggles here is a rundown of some of the super bottles (might also get you ready for your next Sunday School class)
1. Jeroboam – king of Israel 931-910 BC – range from 3 to 5 litres depending on origin and wine
2. Methuselah – Old Testament patriarch – 6 litres
3. Balthazar – one of the Three Wise Men – 12 litres
4. Nebuchadnezzar – King of Chaldea 604 BC – 15 litres
5. Melchoir – one of the Three Wise Men – 18 litres
Cheers!
Related posts:
Posted in 
