Whyis the capacity of a bottle of wine 75 cl and not 1 litre?
It was in the nineteenth century that the 75 cl bottle of wine was standardized. Since that time, many ideas have been circulating to understand this particular capacity.
Some assume that the 75 cl represents the average consumption during a meal, while others think about the maximum volume of air inhaled by the glassblower.
The real reason is historical and was about the practical side. It comes from our English neighbors!
In the nineteenth century, these represented the majority of our wine customers. When England imported the drums, the unit of measurement used was that of the imperial gallon.
This was a real difficulty for traders since a gallon was worth 4.5 liters. The creation of the 75 cl content was therefore intended to facilitate conversions during the purchase: a barrel then represented 50 gallons or 300 bottles of 75 cl!
Moreover, nowadays, cases of wine are often sold by 6 or 12 bottles because one gallon corresponds to 6 bottles.
There are other forms and other capacities of wine bottles: imperial, jeroboam, Solomon or Nebuchadnezzar, etc… you can refer to our article on the different bottles of wine (click here)
See you soon for new news!
OTHER ARTICLES from the Ateliers de Bacchus:
Part 4, Summer Saga (Foreign wines are worse than French wines / The vintage is mandatory on a wine label / Sweet white wine is perfect for aperitifs)