The glass wine bottle as we know it today was not used until 17th century. Before it was made of other materials such as clay urns, animal guts or wooden barrels were used as containers.
Today, the bottle is essential to preserve the wine once it leaves the winery. The liquid will continue to grow and evolve inside the bottle until his quality reaches the highest point. Depending on the type of wine, the best moment for consumption will arrive earlier or later on.
Types of bottles according to materials:
The majority of wine is bottled in glass bottles, but there are some other materials like bricks or special cans, however, none of these are recommended to keep wine for long periods of time.
Types of bottles according to shape:
Borgoña
it’s the oldest design known. It gets its name for the region it was first created. It is characterized by the long should falling along the side. Some Spanish wines started to use this type of bottle to get differentiation from others.
Bordelesa
is the most common bottle. His cylindrical aspect makes possible to store the wine in a horizontal way. For white wines the bottle it’s painted green or light green. For sweeter wines a transparent bottle is preferred.
Rhin
it was born near the river Rhin in Germany. It is known for its height and fallen shoulders.
Cava or Champagne
this bottle has it shoulders low and thick glass. It contains a hollowness in the bottom of it to resist the pressure of sparkling wines.
Jerezana
created by Spaniards. It has a thick neck and it’s used to bottle fine Jerez wines and manzanillas.
Types of bottles according to their capacity or size:
The size of the bottle significantly influences the aging and storage of the wine, since wine evolution is slower as the size of the bottle increases.
- Benjamin: 18 centiliters
- 3/8: 37 centiliters
- 3/4: 75 centiliters (most common one)
- Magnum: 1.5 liters
- Jeroboam: 3 L
- Imperial: 4 L
- Rehoboam: 4.8 L
- Mathusalem: 6.4 L
- Salmanasar: 9.6 L
- Baltasar: 12.8 L
- Nabucodonosor: 16 L
- Salomon: 18 L
Types of bottles according to the color:
The color is a factor that influences the protection of wine from the sun. The most used colors for wine bottles are green, blue and black.
The darker colors are used for wines that will age while lighter or transparent colors are used for white young wines to highlight its color.
By: Luis Bobadilla