Hey friends!
It's Wednesday so it's time for another post about the amazing world of wine. Today we are going to talk about an important element - many times unnoticed - when buying or simply appreciating your wine: the glass bottle. It has its origin in the problems that arose in the seventeenth century, when wine was part of the maritime trade. When traveling long distances, the recipients of the wine suffered continuous damage. In addition to those kinds of losses, evaporation and rot also used to take their tolls. To solve these problems, many merchants and inventors of the time dedicated themselves to finding different solutions.
It was not until 1662 when the definitive solution arrived. Sir K. Digby, a British courtier, invented and manufactured the first drop-shouldered cylindrical glass bottle, first used almost exclusively to hold wine. Given the magnificent results he obtained, its use spread rapidly. As the technique of glass blowing was not yet perfected, the first bottles were already born olive green or brownish green, by accident: the smoke from the oven that was used to make them stained the glass. Ironies of fate, years later it was found that this dark color benefited the wine by preserving it from light.
Today, the most used wine bottles are practically limited to a dozen forms, although there are many more, of course. Burgundy-style bottles are probably the most classic and well-known of all wine bottles. It is round, thick, usually of dark green glass, with a short funnel and high shoulders. It has a volume of 750 ml. and it is usually used for the aging, rest and conservation of red wines, among other reasons because it is the ideal bottle to decant the wine when it is served (its high shoulders act as a wall and stop the lees while pouring the wine). Although its name makes it obvious, it comes from the French region of Bordeaux, another added factor that has made it the most used bottle, at least for red wines.
Meanwhile... The Burgundy bottle has a lower shoulder and a longer funnel. It has an identical volume and is usually used to contain red wines, although it is not intended for long aging. As its etymology also reveals, it comes from the French region of Burgundy, and although it may not be as well known as its Bordeaux cousin, it is also one of the classic and most widely used bottles.
Have you ever heard of bottles from the Rhine or from Alsace? Well, although they are two different bottles, both are very similar, so for greater simplification, and for functional purposes, we will classify them in a single group.
As can be seen in the photo, they have a more elongated and elegant shape than the previous ones, which enhances their beauty. Originally they were of a somewhat smaller capacity, today they are manufactured in standard volumes. They are usually made of brown (Rhenish) or green (Alsatian) glass. It is the most suitable bottle for white and rosé wines, especially those that have not been aged in barrels. They come from the German Rhineland and French Alsace regions, both leading producers of famous white wines.
Here comes a favorite! The bottle of champagne, as its name suggests, is the most used for sparkling wines. It is quite similar to burgundy but thicker, more robust. It has a very concave bottom and a thicker glass than the rest since it has to withstand the pressure generated in the second fermentation caused by the gas that is released during the process. It has a slightly higher capacity than the previous ones (800 ml.). As its name clearly indicates, it is originally from the French region of Champagne.
The bottles of port are similar to those of Bordeaux, but straighter and with more marked shoulders, it has a bulging neck and a two-phase neckline. As the name suggests it is typically used for Andalusian and Portuguese fortified wines. This bottle features dark-colored, almost black glass, and has a well-pronounced neck.
In addition to the shape, the other two basic variables that affect the wine and, therefore, make a bottle suitable to contain it are the color and its size. Light has a detrimental action on wines (especially reds), which is why the bottles are usually dark green or brown in color. On the other hand, the bigger the bottle, the slower the evolution of the wine in it, that is, the larger bottles lengthen the life of the wine they contain.
Finally, keep in mind that everything we have described in terms of colors, shapes and capacities is considered "traditional and most used formats", but fortunately these are not the only ones. In fact, aesthetic originality and innovation in bottles with new colors and shapes is becoming more and more common these days, which in fact annoys some. Having said that… Not everything is great in bottle making. Several companies are experimenting with new shipping methods, as glass bottles are the wine industry's largest source of carbon footprint. For all who are intrigued by this topic, here is Eric Asimov's article, published in the New York Times last month.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/10/dining/drinks/wine-bottles-climate-change.html
See you again soon. Until then... Cheers!
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