Wine bottle
The wine bottle is the most common glass transport and storage container for selling wine to the end consumer. It is provided with a wine label for labeling . Bottles for wine are made in many sizes and shapes. The most common size holds 0.75 liters of wine. This size has been an EU standard since 1977. Before that, most bottles were made in sizes between 0.7 and 0.8 liters. In the USA and Switzerland, this 0.75-liter standard size is still not used consistently.
history
In earlier times, wine was usually stored in barrels and vats and served in metal and ceramic jugs, which are more reminiscent of cooking pots than bottles. In addition, wine was traded in so-called " tubes " - containers made from animal hides. The glass bottle emerged in the 17th century, spreading more and more in the 18th century and becoming the most popular container for wine in the mid-19th century. The reason for this is simple: glass is also chemically neutral, which makes it ideal for liquid containers.
With the invention of the glass bottle and the cork (towards the end of the 17th century), wine could be kept longer and could even ripen in the bottle instead of oxidizing or taking on the taste of its container. Before that, the wine was therefore often mixed with resins, sugared or diluted, so that the type of wine we know today was only created with the invention of the glass bottle.
The first bottles were made of black glass, later olive, green and then brown glass was added. The initially very bulbous, "onion-like" or mallet-like mallet shape became taller, cylindrical bottles over time. Over time, different shapes developed for the various wine-producing regions. In the 19th century, manufacturer seals were often stamped on the glass for identification. In 1894 the first machine-made cognac bottle was produced and the era of uniform bottles began.
Bottle shapes
There are a large number of different wine bottle shapes, but a few basic shapes typical of the content have emerged.
The Bordeaux bottle
The Bordeaux bottle is easy to recognize by its "shoulders". Today it is one of the most popular bottle shapes for dry red wines. The bottom is slightly curved to prevent deposits from being washed up when pouring. An old Bordeaux should therefore be placed upright in good time before serving, so that the depot can slide into the small groove around the bump (this also applies to Burgundy ). Bordeaux bottles are available in green (for dry red and white wines) and in clear glass (for sweet and some dry white wines). The classic grape varieties for the Bordeaux bottle are Cabernet Sauvignon , Merlot , Petit Verdot , Cabernet Franc , Sauvignon Blanc and Semillion .
Like all wine bottles, they come in a number of different sizes. There are also special bottles : In Bordeaux, the Château Haut-Brion has had a unique bottle shape for many decades.
The Bocksbeutel
A bag-like bottle shape ( Bocksbeutel ) in the colors green or brown is used for high-quality wines from Franconia and partly from Baden (Tauberfranken) .
The burgundy bottle
The burgundy bottle has no shoulders. It is used for red wine (usually Pinot Noir ) and white wine (usually Chardonnay ). The classic burgundy bottle is dark to light green, but there are also clear glass versions. It is also the classic bottle shape for Rhône wines (usually a bit wider) and many Loire wines. In California it is also used for Chenin Blanc, among other things . In Italy it is sometimes used in very dark (also brown) glass for many different wines (for example Barolo ). In Germany they are used, for example, for gray or pinot noir.
The high or flail bottle
The high or Schlegel bottle is a white wine bottle with a slim neck, in the colors red, red-brown, blue, green. It has its origin in Germany. It is therefore preferably used for the grape varieties common in Germany ( Riesling , Rieslaner , Gewürztraminer ). They are usually available in brown ( Rhine ) and green ( Mosel ). In addition to Germany, the high bottle is a typical shape for Alsace (usually slightly higher than in Germany), Austria and Switzerland. It is used all over the world for Rieslings and dessert wines.
The champagne bottle
Legend has it that the champagne bottle goes back to the monk Dom Pérignon . It is quite thick-walled to withstand the pressure inside the bottle. The curved bottom was originally created when glass was blown because the bottle was turned over a wooden stick, but the curved bottom also transfers the pressure better to the walls and thus ensures that the bottle bottom does not break. The classic champagne bottle is green, only a few exceptions are clear. However, such bottles should no longer be exposed to the sun, as the taste of the wines would quickly suffer (this is the reason why clear champagne bottles are usually sold in cardboard boxes or colored foil). The green (or brown for other wines) color generally protects the wine from the harmful effects of light and is particularly important when wine is stored for a long time. In general: the darker the bottle (and the storage location), the better the protection.
Classic champagne undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle. This process is called bottle fermentation or the champagne process. For this purpose, yeast , base wine and sugar are poured into the bottle after the first fermentation and this is usually closed with a crown cap (hence the beaded edge of the bottle). By regularly shaking the bottle, the fermentation residues, the depot, are deposited in the bottle neck. After the second fermentation is complete, the deposit is removed. This is done by freezing the neck of the bottle. When the bottle is opened, the ice plug shoots out. This process is called disgorging . The sparkling wine is topped up with the dosage in order to give it its final taste and finally corked.
The Tokayer bottle
White bottles with an offset neck are used for Tokay wines. The Hungarian Tokajer , like the port wine, is filled into the leg bottle traditionally used in Provence wines .
The sherry bottle
It has a detached neck; the colored bottles are used for fortified wines.
Bulge in the bottom
The concave , d. H. The inwardly curved shape of the bottle bottom , especially in Bordeaux and champagne bottles, is called culot de bouteille in technical terms . There are various theories about purpose and origin. The main purpose of this bulge, however, is better stability and compressive strength.
Other bottle shapes
In addition, there are a large number of other typical bottle shapes, some of which are specific to certain wines. With the 1990s there was a general trend towards mostly slim designer bottles.
- The Clavelin is a special bottle shape with a compact body that merges tightly into the neck. Only Vin Jaune , a dessert wine from the French Jura, is bottled in these bottles . This 0.62 l bottle is supposed to maintain the quality and prevent the wine from losing liquid after 6.5 years of maturation in the barrel.
- The new Rheingau flute was designed by the Rheingauer Weinbauverband from the Rheingau and has been propagated since the 1990s. The slim, dark blue-green bottle with 0.75 liters is taller than usual wine bottles and thus ties in with the Rheingau bottle from around 1900, it should convey independence and look elegant and appealing.
- The Sachsenkeule was developed in 1931 in the Hoflößnitz state winery as a green club-shaped bottle to improve the attractiveness of the Elbe Valley wine . A quality award was intended as a unique selling point for Saxony and with the return of local pride in Saxon wines, this form was taken up again in the 1990s. However, the club was not used universally for Saxon wines. Due to the smaller footprint in the box caused by the club, this shape has a poorer support and stability than the normal shape.
- Californian wines have been offered with their own bottle shape (without capsule, with a wider neck) since the early 1990s. This should also emphasize the wine in its own form.
- Special bottles are not intended for sale, only for storage. A classic variant is the Demi-John . This holds 45 liters and is used, for example, to store non-vintage port wine , sherry or Moscatel . These are then drawn onto the usual (0.75 liter) bottle for retail.
Bocksbeutel: old (left) and new bottle shape (right)
More forms of wine bottles
Demijohn
_und_Bocksbeutel_PS_(rechts)..jpg)
Bottle sizes
The first hand-blown mallet bottles were significantly smaller than the 0.75 liter bottles that are common today. While this is intended for two people, initially wine was usually filled into a bottle for one person so as not to waste wine. Today a standard wine bottle contains 750 ml or fractions or multiples thereof. The USA adapted in 1979, only in Switzerland there are still a few 0.70-liter bottles.
Wine in small bottles matures faster than in large bottles. For this and other reasons, wine is bottled in different bottle sizes.
- 0.187 liters: Dinky, Split
- 0.2 or 0.25 liters: Piccolo or quarter bottle, Stifterl (Austria)
- 0.375 liters: half bottle, demi / fillette (France), half bottle (USA / UK), donor from Klosterneuburg monastery (Austria), three-eighth (Switzerland)
- 0.5 liter: French pot or dumpy (USA / South Africa)
- 0.62 liters: Clavelin bottle (only in Jura ), see p. also Vin Jaune
- 0.7 liters: sometimes still found in Switzerland, otherwise almost exclusively reserved for spirits. This size was common for German wines until 1987.
- 0.75 liters: Bottle, normal bottle, Bouteille in France and Austria, Bottle (USA / UK / ZA) the most common volume in the Bocksbeutel , corresponds roughly to the American fifth = 1/5 of a gallon = 0.757 l, is often also called 1/1 (single) bottle denotes
- 0.8 liters: a French Litron, before the French Revolution needed
- 1 liter: liter bottle (sometimes, e.g. in Germany, with a bottle deposit )
- 1.5 liters: Magnum bottle = 2 bottles
- 2 liters: double-liter bottle (colloquially "Doppler")
- 2.25 liters: Marie-Jeanne (outdated, only with old Bordeaux until around 1970) also Tregnum or Tappithen = 3 bottles
- 3 liters: double magnum (Bordeaux), Jeroboam (champagne) = 4 bottles
- 4.5 liters: Jeroboam (Bordeaux), Rehoboam (champagne, Burgundy) = 6 bottles
- 5.0 liters: Jeroboam (modern size, used exclusively for this format since around 1978)
- 6 liters: Methuselah (champagne, burgundy)
- 6.0 liters: Imperiale (Bordeaux)
Rare:
- 9 liters: Salmanazar (only for champagne / Burgundy) = 12 bottles
- 12 liters: Balthazar (only for champagne / Burgundy) = 16 bottles
- 15 liters: Nebuchadnezzar (usually for champagne, sometimes Burgundy) = 20 bottles
more rarely also:
- 7.5 liters: Narcis = 10 bottles
- 18 liters: Goliath or Melchior = 24 bottles
- 20 liters: Solomon = 28 bottles
- 26.25 liters: Sovereign (only for champagne)
- 27 liters: Primat (only for champagne) = 36 bottles
- 30 liters: Melchisedech (only for champagne)
- 45 liters: Demi-John , corresponds to a 60-fold bottle
- 50 liters: also Sovereign = 67 bottles
- 98.5 liters: Adelaide
Champagne matures in small bottles.
Closures
Traditionally, the wine bottle is closed with a cork . Since the risk of mold formation ( "Wine with cones") which wine bottle corks are nowadays with a fine silicone - or paraffin surrounded layer. As a result, the entry of air is almost impossible for a long time and the wine can be kept longer.
In addition to the limited availability of cork the problem of left Korktons always discussions about the cork rise and has plastic , screw out and glass closures. Silicone stoppers don't hold the sulfur as well and supposedly age the wines faster. Another alternative are glass stoppers, such as the Vinolok product from Preciosa. The glass body has a plastic sleeve to seal the bottle. More and more, however, the screw cap is beginning to gain acceptance. This type of closure is inexpensive and has been found in studies to be extremely suitable due to its airtight closure, which keeps the wine fresh for a long time. More than 4 billion bottles are now provided with screw caps (as of 2014). Australia is seen as a pioneer in development. There, 85% (as of 2014) of the wines are already provided with screw caps. New Zealand already has 93% today (as of 2014).
In general, it can be stated that the type of closure is not a direct quality feature, but can certainly have an influence on the development of maturity.
Bottle aging
In general, this is the designation for the end of the aging process, with which the ready-to-fill wine is filled into the bottle. One speaks of reached bottle maturity. Bottle maturity can also mean the maturity that the wine has reached through aging in the bottle.
Trade alternatives
Alternative packaging for the consumer provide bag-in-boxes and cartons . In addition to glass bottles of wine is increasingly in other containers such as Tetra Pak , PET bottles sold, paper bottles aluminum cans, Pouchbags or plastic cups.
literature
- Friedrich Zürn, Rainer Jung: Alternative closures for wine bottles: comparative studies with different types of closures . ATW - Committee for Technology in Viticulture, Darmstadt 2000 (ATW Research Report No. 103).
Web links
- A Few Words About Wine Bottles
- Wine bottles
- Bottle shapes
- Antique Wine Bottles
- The largest wine bottle in the world
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Herrmann, F. Jürgen: Textbook for cooks . Handwerk und Technik, Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-582-40055-7 , p. 358 .
- ↑ What the dent in the bottom of the bottle is good for
- ↑ Saxony - One of the smallest and northernmost wine-growing regions in Europe
- ↑ Product range information ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.yoopress.com/de/weinnews/weinszene/jubilaeen/12850.Narcis__die_neue_Riesen-Weinverkauf_und_Dieter_Hundt.html
- ↑ Bottle sizes at Lebensmittellexikon.de
- ↑ http://www.nikos-weinwelten.de/beitrag/wein_mit_korken_kontra_schraubverbind/
- ↑ https://www.test.de/Wein-Konbewerb-fuer-Kork-1707930-0/
- ↑ http://www.winemag.co.za/cork-vs-screwcap-2014/
- ↑ http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2014/09/02/4-reasons-why-screw-caps-on-wine-bottles-rule/
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento from February 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://www.falstaff.at/weinartikel/streitfrage-wein-in-pet-flaschen-851.html
- ↑ paper-bottle-recyclable-paper-bottles ( Memento from February 4, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://www.neue-verpackung.de/texte/verbindungen/3491/Coppola-Tattan-bringt-Schaumwein-in-Alu-Dosen
- ↑ Drink tank
- ↑ https://lepetitraisin.com/
