There are over a dozen different sizes of wine bottles, so it makes sense to divide them into small, medium, large, extra large and extra large. While these categories are not industry standards, they can give you an idea of metric measurements and how many people a particular size bottle is likely to serve. To add to the confusion, when it comes to oversized and giant systems, the dimensional system turns to biblical names. While you may never see a Bible-sized bottle, it helps to know about all the different sizes.
Small
A small vial is called a half vial or split vial. It measures 375 ml. The pony bottle contains 189 ml of wine. These names are often used interchangeably, but the difference is unmistakable, the bottle is small. In Italian it can be called piccolo, which means small. The French call it chopine or demi, which means half. For dessert wine, it can be called claveline or jennie.
Medium
The medium category holds the most common type of bottle you will see at a restaurant, bar, liquor store, in a magazine, or on TV. It is called a bottle and is 750 ml. Red, white, and rose wines are bottled in this size. It contains about four and half glasses. Major labels and local winemakers ferment and age wine in this size. Most fine wines are aged in this size, rarely put in a smaller or larger size.
Large
The large size is called a magnum, and it means two regular bottles. It measures 1.5 liters, which two times the 750 ml bottle. Rarely will an expensive or rare vintage be found in this size bottle. Instead, wines that are consumed in quantity are bottled in the large size. For instance, if you are going to a party, it serves nine glasses. Manufacturers often offer a discount on the large size so it makes more sense to buy the large one rather than two regular ones.
Extra Large
In this category are bottles that the wine buying public is not used to seeing. One is called the Marie-Jean, which is three standard bottles. The Double Magnum contains four regular bottles, is called the Jeroboam in sparkling wines, and the Reboboam in red. The Imperial has eight bottles and the Methuselah in sparkling wine has eight standard-sized wine bottles as well.
Jumbo
Jumbo sized bottles have biblical names that reflect the fact that these exist largely in stories. A Salmanazar has 12 bottles, which comes to 9 liters. Balthazar is 16 bottles and 12 liters. Nebuchadnezzar is 20 bottles and Sovereign is 67 bottles. The Guinness Book of World records first documented a record-breaking bottle over 12 feet high, but someone else made one that stood over 15 feet.
September 01, 2022
