The History of Wine Bottles

Wine has been treasured by humanity for a long time now, with some societies being unable to function without it. Signs point to wine being in production since 6000 BC and 4000 BC. An ancient winery was even found in Armenia. But the wine bottle itself did not emerge until much later down the path. With wine bottles having such a deep history behind them, let’s take a dive into some of the more interesting details about the historic journey of the wine bottle.

The Requirements of Wine Bottles

Air must not be able to breach the bottle in order to prevent oxidation. And the bottle must be strong enough to not break, while also being the right weight so that it can easily be transported. It is also important that the bottle itself does not interact with the wine so that it doesn’t alter its flavour.

Wine is uniquely sensitive to changes in temperature. The wines we drink today are the product of literally thousands of years of experimentation and refinement. 

Even the temperature and lighting of your cellar have to be taken into consideration when storing wine. While it can differ, the optimal storage temperature for Red and White wines is around 13°C. It’s alright to dip one or two degrees higher or lower, as long as the temperature of the wine is kept consistent.

The Capacity of Wine Bottles

It wasn’t until the 19th century that the capacity of a wine bottle was normalised. Wine bottles are usually 750ml and not 1 litre (1000ml), to many this is considered strange but there is an explanation.

In reality, it is simply a practical organisation with a historical basis: during the 19th century, the main customers of French winemakers were the British.

The British unit of volume was the “imperial gallon” equivalent to 4.54609 litres. 

To simplify the conversion accounts, they transported Bordeaux wine in 225-litre barrels, i.e. exactly 50 gallons, corresponding to 300 750ml bottles. (75 centilitres). 

Since it was easier to calculate, they adopted a barrel = 50 gallons = 300 bottles.

In this way one gallon corresponded to 6 bottles.

Actually, this is why even today wine boxes often have 6 or 12 bottles. 

Transporting Wine Bottles

The tradition and innovation that winemakers pour into their bottles is nothing short of remarkable. There are important conditions that need to be met when transporting and storing wine however, otherwise the flavours stored inside may be lost by the time they reach your table.

The Romans discovered the use of oak barrels for transport from the Gauls. Their strength, light weight and watertight seal made them excellent for transporting wine. It was found with time that the oak imparted an additional flavour to the wine, and people actually favoured this flavouring, so it remains a critical component of modern vineyards and distilleries today.

Thanks to glassblowers in the 16th Century, glass was found to be the perfect way to store wine because it did not alter the flavour, and it was around this time that aged wine could become a commodity. The expense, weight and fragility of glass made it costly and inconvenient to ship, but offered better controls over oxidation and spoilage than oak casks.

Nowadays the bulk of wine is transported in flexible plastic bulk tanks, which are used for a variety of perishable liquid foods and beverages.

Australia led the charge in the wine market by truly cashing in on this form of wine transportation. Most of Australia’s wine is consumed outside of that country and has to be shipped to markets thousands of miles away because Australia is so far away from the big wine markets in America and Europe. In places like England, the wine is shipped in flexible plastic bulk tanks from Australia and then immediately decanted into ready-to-consume wine bottles.

The Design of Wine Bottles

A wine bottle consists of about eight parts; the closure, capsule, neck, shoulders, body, label, heel, and punt. Not all of these parts are as important as the others.

The capsule and closure work together to prevent oxidation in your wine.

The neck is key to the standard wine pour, and the shoulders and body are what keep the wine intact and secure.

Some would say that the label itself is a part of the bottle, responsible for telling you the vintner, type of wine, age, wine alcohol content, etc.

The punt is the indentation on the bottom. This was a function of wine bottles being made by glassblowers, nowadays it serves a more decorative purpose. Since machinery is now responsible for producing wine bottles and not glassblowers, the punt remains as a little nod to tradition. The dimples on the bottom of the bottle are the heel, its function is to make sure it stands upright, while also assisting with grip when pouring.

The commonly shaped wine bottle is named the ‘Bordeaux’ after the region and variant of wine. 

The original wine bottle was created by Sir Kenelm Digby, an adventurous character with several interesting stories to his name. During the 1630s, Digby owned a glassworks and manufactured glass onions (oval shaped versions of today’s wine bottle). Manufacturing with a coal furnace and a wind tunnel, Digby’s technique produced wine bottles which were stronger and more stable than most of their day, and which due to their translucent green or brown colour protected the contents from light.

In the past there was a different method of storing wine. In Georgia there were giant clay pots named ‘Qvevri’ that were used to store wine, sometimes buried in the ground. They reached their peak usage during Ancient Rome and Greece and continued to spread out throughout the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian regions. There are winemakers today in Italy and Georgia who are bringing back the Qvevri in order to give a more ancient gastronomic edge to their wine.

The Future of Wine Bottles

In 2020, a German design company launched the first double-layered wine bottle, named Cooleo. It can supposedly keep wine cold without needing to put it back in the fridge as its double-walled design functions as an insulator. 

It’s hard to say how the wine bottle will evolve as its iconic shape has remained prominent for centuries. There is a focus on a less energy intensive approach to producing wine bottles nowadays with climate change on the forefront of many people’s minds. With developments in technology, design and human creativity, it will be interesting to see what is in store for the wine bottle.