Here's a list of terms associated with wine bottles.
| Balthazar |
An oversized wine bottle which holds the equivalent of 12 to 16 standard bottles. |
| Bottle |
750 milliliters of wine - this standard bottle size. It is sometimes referred to as a "fifth". Bottle shapes vary depending on the winery's preference or the type of wine. |
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| Bottle Sickness |
A temporary condition characterized by muted or disjointed fruit flavors. It often occurs immediately after bottling or when wines (usually fragile wines) are shaken in travel. Also called bottle shock. A few days of rest is the cure. |
| Bottled By |
Means the wine could have been purchased ready-made and simply bottled by the brand owner, or made under contract by another winery. When the label reads "produced and bottled by" or "made and bottled by" it means the winery produced the wine from start to finish. |
| Estate-bottled |
A term once used by producers for those wines made from vineyards that they owned and that were contiguous to the winery "estate." Today it indicates the winery either owns the vineyard or has a long-term lease to purchase the grapes. |
| Half-bottle |
Holds 375 milliliters or 3/8 liter. |
| Imperial |
An over-sized bottle holding 4 to 6 liters; the equivalent of eight standard bottles. |
| Jeroboam |
An over-sided bottle with two sizes. It is the equivalent of six bottles of wine. Or with Champagne, a jeroboam holds four bottles. |
Made and
Bottled By |
Indicates only that the winery crushed, fermented and bottled a minimum of 10 percent of the wine in the bottle. Very misleading. |
| Magnum |
The equivalent of two bottles, or an oversized bottle. Holds 1.5 liters. The best selling bottle size for Champagne. |
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| Double Magnum |
The equivalent of four bottles – twice the size of a magnum holding 3.0 liters. |
| Methuselah |
An extra-large bottle holding 6 liters; the equivalent of eight standard bottles. It is usually used for sparkling wines. |
| Nebuchadnezzar |
A giant wine bottle holding 15 liters; the equivalent of 20 standard bottles (almost four gallons). |
Produced and
Bottled By |
Indicates that the winery crushed, fermented and bottled at least 75 percent of the wine in the bottle. |
| Rehoboam |
Oversized bottle equivalent to 4.5 liters or six regular bottles. |
| Salmanazar |
An oversized bottle holding 9 liters, the equivalent of 12 regular bottles. |
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| Sovereign |
Huge! Equals 67 standard bottles - 50 liters. |
| Split |
187.5 ml (or 200 ml of wine), a tiny bottle, a mere quarter of the usual. Made only for sparkling wine. |
