Size of Bottles

[Brom]

The question maybe should not be why they are 750 ml., but why they were a fifth of a gallon (4 fifths of a quart).

We converted to the metric system and lost .3 ounce - the 750 ml size is that close. In Britain, they still refer to a 375 ml bottle as a "pint".

The apocraphyl origin of the fifth bottle contrasts to the Pasteur story. In America, a fifth was deemed to be a portion for a man.

Wines originally were shipped in cask and bottled by distributors.

I am not so sure that the "Bordeaux" bottle was invented in Portugal, as wines were being estate-bottled in the Bordeaux long before Porto was being bottled in Portugal. It is also true that Porto bottles are shaped somewhat differently than Bordeaux bottles.