Size of the wine bottle

[realnovice]

I have a simple question to start with. What relation does the size of wine bottle have with its perceived quality? I've heard people say that the bigger and fatter the bottle, the cheaper in quality the wine. Is that true?

[Kcwhippet]

Welcome to the WineBoard. I assume you're referring to the 750ml size bottle. I don't know what people you've heard saying the wine would be of a lower qualty if the bottle is bigger. That just doesn't make sense. Larger, heavier or fatter bottles cost more than the standard Bordeaux or Burgundy shaped bottles, and using the oversize bottles to hold low quality wine wouldn't be cost effective. I think you have some bad information.

[dananne]

Now, if you're talking about the big, fat, straw-wrapped supermarket Chianti bottles, that's another story. However, every rule has an exception -- the fat jugs of Three Thieves are pretty darned good.

But if you're talking about the standard 750 mL bottles, then as stated above, it's not true that the more substantial bottles contain less substantial juice.

[realnovice]

Thanks. No, I'm not talking about the 750 ml bottle. I'm talking about a really big fat bottle. Does that size make a difference?

[Kcwhippet]

OK, now it sounds like you're probably talking about jug wines. They usually come in 3 and 4 liter bottles, and while the wines don't fall into the premium category, they're still serviceable and easy drinking. Served with food, they can be decent tasting wines. I remember not too many years ago pairing Almaden's Mountain Rhine with Chicken McNuggets on more than one occasion. Only real snobs would have a problem with something like that, because if you like the wine you're drinking, then it's a good wine regardless of other people's perceptions.

[winophite]

Don't some high quality wines come in a "magnum". I'm not sure, but isn't that like a double,(1500 ml)? WP

[Bucko]

The question is impossible to answer without more data. He could be talking about a gallon jug of Gallo or a Salmanazar of Margaux.

[mrdutton]

Spot on Bucko - got a chuckle out of that reply!! [img]http://wines.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

[Thraz]

If you are talking about the wine aisle at your grocery store, I think the rule of thumb that anything in a jug will not be premium holds. Anything in a large format but regular-shaped bottle (magnum, 1500ml) is also likely to be lower-end.

In a fine wine store, magnums are more likely to hold higher-end wines. Jugs are still lower-end.

Anything in a regular-shaped bottle but larger than 1500ml (e.g. 3 liters or more) is extremely likely to be premium, but those bottles are much harder to find.

[realnovice]

The only further data that I can ogffer is a picture of a bottle of wine I am curious about. I have scanned the picture, but don't know how to send it as there seems to be no option to attach pictures with messages. Please guide me.

[PinotEnvy]

If you can not attach the picture, please describe the bottle. How much wine does it say it holds? 1.5 litres? Is it a large jug or an oversized regularly shaped bottle? What is the wine (brand and varietal)? For example, Gallo Merlot.

[realnovice]

Thanks for your offer to help. Trouble is that I have scanned the picture from the dust jacket of a book, and the information you pointed out is not legible in it. Anyway, I have uploaded the scanned pic on Picassa. Here's the link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/ajmalkamal/WineBottle

[TheEngineer]

The picture that you have posted "seems" to show what is in general called a "jug wine". In this case, the quality of wines is generally not one people would perceive as being high quality wine (though there are decent jug wines). As such, these are generally also not the ones that you would go and age. THe bottles that many posters were talking about (Magnums, etc), look like blown up versions of a standard bottle more than the version that you have. Hope this helps.

[brappy]

The jug looks kind of like the jugs in Hotwine's cellar. [img]http://wines.com/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img] You know, the ones with the homemade wine.....


(I still like those pictures)