bottom of the wine bottle

[claudio]

Thanks for give me the chance to be in the board. My question: Does anybody knows why some wine bottles have a pointed or knob-like shape bottom and others (cheap wine most likely) a flat bottom

[Innkeeper]

Hi Claudio, and welcome to the Wine Board. It is called a punt. It is there so when you pour it you can stick your thumb in there, and grip the bottle near the bottom with your fingers. Then you pour without sloshing the wine all over the place, and duly impress your guests.

[tandkvd]

Never heard of that IK. I allways thought it had something to do with the sediment. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/confused.gif[/img]

[winoweenie]

Hi Claudio and welcome to the board. Please disregard the dis-information. The punt bottle was instituted to facillitate shipping wine without breakage. The punt design is over 3 times stronger than the conventional flat bottomrd bottle. WW

[Thomas]

ww, that is great information--never heard it before. I assumed the punt was there as a result of old glass-making methods and then it assumed the mythical status of being good for retaining sediment, and so it just remained (like cork stoppers!) a tradition.

[tandkvd]

WOW, three experts with over 13000 post betwixt them, and three different answers to a seemingly novice question! I think we have entered the Twilight Zone. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/eek.gif[/img]

Will we ever know the reason for the punt.

Hey it is almost football season!

[Bucko]

1. The angled punt allows sediment to settle down into a tight space around the base, helping prevent the sediment from being disturbed as wine is poured into a glass.

2. A punt makes it easier to hold and pour from a wine bottle with one hand. You hold the wine bottle from the base, placing the thumb into the middle of the punt, and firmly gripping the back side of the bottle with the remaining four fingers.

3. Punts create a stable surface on which to stand a wine bottle. Historically, when flat-bottomed bottles were hand-blown or produced with early casts, they would often have deformities on the bottom which would make the bottle prone to tip over. With the use of a punt, wine bottles could have a stable, circular base on which to stand.

4. Punts add strength to the base of larger bottles, especially champagne bottles which hold wine under pressure. A solid, thicker base, with greater surface area ensures the bottle will not burst from the pressure.

5. Punts add style and flair to a bottle's design. The punt adds a sleek rounded shape to the overall composition of the bottle.

So you can see that there is not a simple answer.

[Thomas]

I suppose the wider question is: why is it called a punt when it is a bottle indentation, and a punt when some poor soul is on the spot to kick a pigskin across white yard markers?

[claudio]

Thank you very much for all your answers. Now I know something new.

[JagFarlane]

Well for that answer, you may have to ask the NFL...go EAGLES!!! [hehe diehard fan since I was born...so no saying I jumped on the bandwagon when they got good!]

[Innkeeper]

You all may be interested in what the expert of experts, Jancis Robinson, has to say on the subject. "Punt, optional indentation in the bottom of wine bottles, particularly common in bottles of sparkling wine" (JR: Concise Wine Companion). That's it; not one word about why!

[Georgie]

Guess trying to find out the real answer is just puntless.... [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]

[hotwine]

Aaaarrgghh, a Wiener-style pun...t.

[wondersofwine]

Well Jancis Robinson's guide IS called "concise."

[Kcwhippet]

Here's a little more of a description and definition of the punt.

www.virtual-ink.com.au/afw-faq/faq001.htm

I've done some glass blowing, though never a bottle. There is a tool called a pontil rod used to steady the bottom of various items and I've used it on a few occasion.

[claudio]

KCWHIPPET sure its a very good explanation in that web site. Appreciate it!

[lizardbrains]

Hotwine... I don't often laugh out loud when reading posts on this board... but yours had me rolling!!!!

-Elizabeth