Wine Bottle Sizes

The names given to the different sizes of bottle can be confusing so here’s a short article to make it easier. The importance of bottle size can be insignificant for wine designed to be enjoyed whilst young and fresh. However, wines worthy of ageing can be drastically different depending on the bottles size. The larger the bottle the slower bottle maturation will occur which can aid the development of styles of wine like port.

From smallest to largest:

185.5ml -Piccolo or sometimes know as Split, this is typically used for a single serving of Champagne. Piccolo means small in Italian.

375ml -Known as Demi or a Half due to holding half of a typical standard bottle.

0.75l or 750ml -The Standard bottle size and the most common. Nearly all wineries use this volume but the bottle can have different shapes. This can range from the tall flute shape seen in Alsace to the study, heavy bottle with gently sloping sides in Burgundy.

1.5l or 1500ml – This is also relatively common in terms of size, equivalent to two standard bottles. Known as a Magnum  

3.0l or 3000ml- This is known as a Double Magnum and is the same as four standard bottles.

4.5l or 4500ml- Jeroboam, this holds six standard bottles or the equivalent of three magnums.

6.0l or 6000ml- Imperial, the same volume as eight standard bottles

9.0l or 9000ml- Known as a Salmanazar, this equals a full case of twelve bottles of wine. Pretty difficult to pour!

12.0l or 12,000ml – Called a Balthazar this bottle holds the volume of sixteen bottles of standard wine.

15.0l or 15,000ml- Nebuchadnezza the largest of the bottle sizes, holding a whopping twenty bottles. However, there is some debate on whether it is actually meant to hold more at twenty quarts.

Bottles can of course range from these sizes but these are the typical ones to remember.