Why is wine sold in 0.75 liter bottles?
Everyone has his favorite wine and surely there are a lot of questions related to the world of enology. Today we will try to answer perhaps one of the most bizarre: “Why does wine sell in 0.75 l bottles?”
Of course it is not the fundamental question to be made to create the perfect wine, but to know better a world that is dear to us, it never hurts.
Let’s start by saying that there is definitely no correct answer but there are several theories about it. Some, for example, point to the pattern at 1700, when the bottles were still blown by craftsmen. According to this theory, glass blowers with their lung capacity and strength would not be able to exceed 65-75 cl or higher than this capacity. To have the largest possible containers, it has opted for 75 cl bottles.
Yet another theory is linked to the gallon, the unity that in the Anglo-Saxon world measures the liquids. One gallon divided by six gives 757 milliliters, each wine case could contain only 2 gallons and the Englishmen decided to put 12 bottles per box, 0.75 for each bottle. Others argue that the cause should be attributed to the mescine: once the classic glass of wine was 125 ml, then that size contained six glasses.
The last theory, the most supported by drinkers, believed it was the right quantity for a man’s meal.
Certainly it is a very convenient format for transportation and storage. The use of this format keeps the amount of oxygen present in the container unchanged, which over time can alter the wine, but which, if distributed for large volumes of liquid, does not affect its characteristics. Every manufacturer knows that the right bottle is essential to keep the quality of wine unaltered and it is essential to choose the right glass and the right shape. Today 0,75 liters has become a worldwide standard established in 1975 with the European Packaging Directive (Dir. 75/106), only certain regions are authorized to use a different format, and to do so we need a special permit EU.
To avoid wasting or spoil wine leaving it open there are commercially smaller bottles, such as the format 375 ml, one half of a standard bottle of 0,75 liters, called “Mignon” or “Fillette“. Instead, for better aging and prestige, there are also larger bottles; The most famous is Magnum, which contains 1.5 liters, double the standard, while even larger ones have been chosen as biblical names. For example, the “Melchior” (from the name of one of the Three Wise Men) contains 18 liters, ie 24 standard bottles, or the “Melchizedek“: 30 liters equivalent to 40 bottles of 0.75 liters and are used for the bottling of wines precious, in limited quantity.
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