The Glass Wine Bottle
The first effective storage containers for wine were large pottery jars known as amphorae. However, they didn't last long and became out of favor when the Romans began to blow glass into rounded bottles they stored in sand. In the 1730s, the Romans abandoned rounded bottles for bottles with straighter sides because they could be more conveniently stacked.
Modern wine bottles were born in 1821 when H. Ricketts & Co. Glassworks of Bristol, England, patented a machine that molded glass bottles. Traditional shapes developed in various European wine regions became standardized, mass-produced, and shared by all. Five particular designs including Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Alsace, and Mosel from Southern Spain and Portugal where the English obtained fortified wines became the norm. At a glance, these shapes allow you to identify the general content of most wine bottles before even reading the label.
Bordeaux Bottles
Bordeaux bottles have tall shoulders and straight sides. Wineries through the world that make Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, and blends of these along with other Bordeaux varietals use Bordeaux bottles. The shape is also common to the noble red wines of Italy and Spain prized by red wine club associations. The glass color of Bordeaux bottles is usually dark green, which originally resulted from impurities, but later found to protect wine from sunlight. The design is well suited for red wines that produce sediment as they age because the sediment collects in the shoulder of the bottle while pouring the wine. Sauvignon Blanc and Semillion, the primary white wines of Bordeaux, also come in Bordeaux bottles.
Burgundy Bottles
Wider Burgundy bottles have gently sloping shoulders. Winemakers use Burgundy bottles for Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Gamay, the principal varietals of Burgundy. The Rhone style is similar to Burgundy and used for Syrah, Grenache, and the blended wines of the region.
Champagne Bottles
Champagne and sparkling wine from other areas require bottling in heavy glass with a deeply indented punt at the bottom to withstand six atmospheres of pressure, three times the pressure inside an average car tire. Without the punt, the bottom could easily blow out. The punt has the additional benefit of being a thumb grip to make the bottle easily held for pouring. The shape has a long thin neck with a lip around which the wire basket fastens to secure the cork.
Alsace And Mosel Bottles
The Mosel in Germany and Alsace in France use a very tall, slender bottle, usually green in color. The Rhine in Germany uses the same bottle although its color is brown. Wineries here and in the new world bottle Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, and Muller Thurgau wine in these bottles.
The fortified wines of Spain and Portugal, Port, Madeira, and Sherry, are typically bottled in heavy Bordeaux shaped bottles, although Port, which ages for decades and throws sediment, is often found in bottles with bulges in the neck that capture the sediment when the wine is poured or decanted.
The next time you're shopping for wine, take a hint from white and red wine club associations and see if you can identify what might be in a bottle before looking at the label.
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Kent Campbell is an author for the popular wine of the month club, Celebrations Wine Club. Celebrations Wine Club is one of the few red wine club associations offering the wines of Italy and California.
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