from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Bottles
Photograph courtesy of Karol
Franks
https://www.flickr.com/photos/karolfranks/10343092836/
Different bottles shapes and
sizes.
Bouteilles – Bottles
French wine bottles have a history reaching back 300 years, some even longer. However, until the end of the 19th-century, wine was traditionally sold in barrels, even for the wealthy. Only the finest wines would be sold in bottles, and they were hand-blown glass bottles. The masses would go to the wine merchant and fill their own ceramic containers. A regular wine bottle today in France and most other countries is 750 ml, three-quarters of a liter.
The first drinks for the masses with a glass bottle and a cork stopper were lemon and orange drinks. That is the reason for the name for the most famous French corkscrew being called a limonadier. The limonadier is still today the only corkscrew used by any self-respecting French sommelier. In French, a regular corkscrew is a tire-bouchon.
A Limonadier.
The English speaking world along with other traditions have their own odd bottle shapes. Many are still used without any reference to the metric system, especially in the USA.
This post came about from my travels in France, then I could never remember the names and the difference between French bottle sizes from one day to the next, so I made myself a list. That list may help you when traveling. N.B.: At the end of this post are some USA and U.K. liquid measurements for comparison. For information on the change of wine labels in France to AOC, IGP, and Vins de France, click here.
French wine bottle names and sizes.
The styles used for the bottles in the various French wine groups have been copied worldwide. Wherever in the world, you travel, France’s traditional wine bottle sizes and shapes will be immediately recognizable. Despite that, some changes have indeed been made in the last 100 years. One change reduced standard French bottle sizes from 800 ml to 750 ml; other changes are practically invisible. Additionally, modifications made under the bottles adapted traditional bottles to the needs of modern automatic bottling machines. Standard wine bottles around the world have copied the French standard of 750ml. The 750 ml size is also used for the regular-sized bottles of Sherry, Port, and Madeira wines.
French bottles are listed by shape, and sometimes by size.
The standard wine bottle size in France and other wine-growing countries, including the New World and Australia, and China, is 750ml. Un Litre is French for one liter. That is 1000 ml, milliliters; 100 cl, centiliters; 33.80 fluid ounces.
Anjou
– The Anjou bottle for Anjou wines from the Pays
de Loire. The Anjou bottles look somewhat like thin Champagne bottles. However,
Anjou wines do not need the thick glass that Champagne bottles do, and the
bottles contain the same 750 ml as other wine bottles. The half-bottle size for
Anjou wine is called a Fillette d’Anjou and holds the standard 375 ml like most
other half bottles. Anjou is now mostly within the department of the Maine-et-Loire region of Pays de la Loire.
Armagnac - Armagnac bottles come in a wide variety of shapes. Whatever the shape, the standard Armagnac bottles hold 700 ml; less than a standard wine bottle that holds 750ml. However, some Armagnac bottles in the duty-free will hold 1 liter. Armagnac was the first well-known French grape brandy. Its origins date to the 14th century, and the name honors the Dukes of Armagnac. The old province of Armagnac is now included in Nouvelle Aquitaine and covers parts of the departments of Gers, Landes, and Lot-et-Garonne. Visit the English language Armagnac website:
http://www.armagnac.fr/a-whole-region.
Bordeaux – Bordeaux. The standard “high shouldered” Bordeaux wine bottle holds 750 ml. Staying with that French tradition, the New World Cabernet Sauvignons, Merlots, and USA Meritage blends use this shape.
Four high-shouldered Bordeaux wine bottles.
Photograph courtesy of
filtran.
www.flickr.com/photos/filtran/2260092945/
Bourgogne – The
standard Burgundy wine bottle holds 750 ml. These are
"slope-shouldered" bottles, and one look quickly sets them apart from
the bottles used for Bordeaux wines. These are the bottles used for Chardonnay,
Pinot Noir and outside of France used for similar wines.
A slope-shouldered Burgundy wine bottle.
Photograph courtesy of
Fareham Wine.
www.flickr.com/photos/farehamwine/22546397313/
Calvados
– Calvados, the French
apple brandy. Calvados bottles come in an unusual variety of shapes, as do
Cognac and Armagnac. The standard size is 700 ml; however, the duty-free may
sell 1-liter bottles. Calvados, with its three, separately named and differently
made AOP brandies has its own post.
Carafe
– A carafe; a pottery
or glass jug. Most carafes come, by tradition, without handles and may be used
for wine or water. There is no legal size for carafes, and they come in many
interesting shapes and sizes. In most French cafes and small restaurants, you
will see ceramic, steel, or glass carafes built to hold a quarter, a half, or a
whole liter of the house wine. (See Pot and Pichet). A carafon is a small
carafe,
Clavelin - A unique 620 ml bottle used for the Vin Jaune de Jura, the distinctive yellow wine of the Jura; this wine comes from the French department of Jura in the region of Franche-Comté. The Clavelin was once known as the Anglaise, the English bottle, and then it contained 650 ml. Why it changed to 620ml and why it is now called the Clavelin, and why it was originally called the Anglaise, no one that I have asked knows. The Vin Jaune de Jura is a wine aged for a minimum of six years and three months under a natural yeast covering. When served, the wine will have a nutty taste similar to a Fino sherry. However, Sherry has an entirely different production method to those of the Vin Jaune.
The Clavelin bottle used for the Vin Jaune from the Jura.
The
yellow wine from the Jura.
Avenue
des Vins.fr
Cognac – As with Armagnac and Calvados, Cognac bottles come in an incredible range of shapes, sizes, and colors. The duty-free may be selling 1-liter bottles, but locally it will be 700 ml. There are four separate posts on Cognac because, as with Armagnac, there is much confusion over the ages, crus, and tastes etc.
The Hine Cognac bottle
and glass decanter created for their centenary by Baccarat
Photograph by Gilles de Beauchêne
courtesy of Hine.
Demi-bouteille - A half-bottle called a
fillette in Bordeaux and Anjou that contains 375 ml, half of a standard 750 ml
bottle.
Double-magnum – See Marie-Jeanne.
Fiasco – This is a round-bottomed Italian bottle that gave the English
language another word for a disaster. The first attempts at exporting wine in
these round-bottomed bottles with just a little straw seperating each bottle were unsuccessful. The
bottles could not be stacked safely. A puddle with a load of broken glass in
the shipping case was often all that was left to advise the purchaser of the
arrival of another shipment of fiascos.
Later, straw wrapping solved the breakage
problem, and that was responsible for all those lovely straw-wrapped Chianti
bottles. Today, most of the straw-wrapped Chianti bottles no longer use
round-bottomed bottles. However, when you find one of the original fiasco
bottles, it will be rarer than the straw covering. The origin of the name
fiasco is interesting as different types of bottle-free fiascos are encountered
from time to time. Unfortunately, some of these national or international
fiascos are doing very well.
A fiasco bottle with a straw
frame.
Photograph courtesy of
dottorpeni.
www.flickr.com/photos/dottorpeni/2242746914/
Fillette – The name for a half-bottle or 375 ml bottle of wine from Bordeaux and Anjou; these are downsized versions of the regular Anjou or Bordeaux wine bottles.
An Anjou rosé in the
traditional, thin Champagne-style bottle.
Photograph
courtesy of Château de Fesles
Flute
– The flute looks very thin, but surprisingly it does hold the standard 750ml for a standard bottle of wine. Flutes are the bottles
used for most of the Alsace wines, and in the New World, this tradition has
been adopted for wines using grapes that are considered Alsatian. The flute's
shape came from the German winery tradition. In Germany, this shape is called
the Hoch and will use green glass for Mosel wines and brown glass for wines
closer to the Rhine.
A Trimbach Reisling from the Alsace
in the traditional flute-shaped bottle.
Photograph courtesy of
Fareham Wine.
www.flickr.com/photos/farehamwine/17905297223/
Mignonette – The old
mignonette was made in sizes varying from 4 ml to 10 ml. Originally these were
personal traveling bottles, an early hip bottle. Then, they all had different
shapes and sizes; some were metal, and some were glass. Today antique
Mignonette bottles are collector’s items. New and interestingly designed Mignonette
bottles are still being made today; they are sold with an assortment of
differently flavored eau-de-vies, brandies. If you like their different and
interesting shapes, you may, inexpensively, begin to collect the new Mignonette
bottles.
Pichet – In
parts of France and the French-speaking part of Switzerland, this may be a
pitcher, a jug, or a carafe.
Pot – A jar or
jug or a type of carafe. When a pot is on a wine list or a menu, it generally
indicates a traditional carafe of wine from the Beaujolais area of Burgundy.
Those pots hold 460 ml, just under half a liter. Elsewhere, in France, a pot
has a similar usage to its English meaning where it may be any small
container, and in France a pot may be on your menu when it is used for serving.
Magnum – A 1.5 liters bottle size, not the gun. Magnum is the name for a double-sized bottle of all wines that usually come in 750ml sizes. All bottles keep to their respective traditional shapes.
Champagne bottles
Champagne Taittinger Brut
Reserve NV 1.5 L Magnum and 75cl bottles,
Photograph courtesy of Dominic
Lockyer.
www.flickr.com/photos/farehamwine/15358517452/
Marie-Jeanne
or Double Magnum – A three-bottle, 2.25-liter size for Bordeaux wines
only. For other wines, the three bottle size is called the Jéroboam.
Jéroboam
bottles I – The Jeroboam used for Champagne, for Port and Burgundy; they all hold the same
2.25 liters, three-bottle size, like a Marie-Jeanne from Bordeaux. Each bottle keeps its traditional shape. For more about Champagne
wines, click here.
Jeroboam bottles II -To complicate matters, a Jéroboam is also the name used for a six-bottle a 4.5-liter size Bordeaux wine. The Jeroboam bottle for Bordeaux wines still maintains the traditional high-shouldered shape. (The 4.5-liter bottles used for Champagne are called Rehoboam).
Who was Jéroboam – Jeroboam was a revolutionary who became King of Israel when the Kingdom of Israel split into two in the 10th Century BCE following the death of King Solomon. A civil war created the Southern Kingdom of Judah led by Rehoboam, the rightful heir to King Solomon, with ten tribes and the Northern Kingdom of Israel led by Jeroboam with the remaining two tribes of Judah and Benjamin and the Levites. The division would last for over two hundred years. At that time, wine, though not Champagne, was plentiful, though wooden barrels had not yet been created. The information on the standard amphora size that King Jeroboam preferred is not available.
Is this is the amphora used by Jeroboam?
An amphora in the collection
of the Israel Museum.
Photograph courtesy of Gary
Todd
www.flickr.com/photos/101561334@N08/28351362157/
Mathusalem –
Methuselah; this bottle holds six liters, the contents of eight regular
bottles. Both Champagne and Burgundy use this size.
Mathusalem – Methuselah was a descendant of Seth, the son of Enoch
and the grandfather of Noah in the Bible. Noah was the grandson who built the
big boat. Noah not only built the ark but was the first person in the Bible to
be recorded as a drunk! Noah may have drunk six liters of a local wine?
According to the Bible, Methuselah died, quite unexpectedly, of old age, when
he was a spritely 969. I imagine that those who wrote that part of the story
must have had unlimited access to Methuselah's wine cellar.
Imperial – This is a
liter six-bottle for Champagne, Burgundy and Bordeaux winesl they are made in their different traditional shapes. Each bottle holds the contents of eight regular bottles. An
Imperial is what you need when you wish to impress your friends.
Quart Bouteille, Un Quart - A quarter of a regular bottle. This bottle size is only used in France for Champagne. The contents are one-quarter of a standard 750 ml wine bottle; that is 187.5 m; in the USA, this champagne bottle is called a split. That is 6.3 fluid ounces. However, quarts in the U.K. and the USA are different sizes. In the USA, a quart is 950 ml, and in the U.K., an imperial quart is 1.14 liters. (N.B. In French a quart means a quarter and for wine will indicate a quarter of a liter, 250ml).
Réhoboam
- Rehoboam - A 4.5-liter Champagne bottle.
Réhoboam - Rehoboam the man. Rehoboam the King was a son of King Solomon and the last King of the United Kingdom of Israel that included the twelve tribes of Israel. The twelve tribes broke apart withJudah and Benjamin and the Levites, remaining with Rehoboam. (The ten tribes join Jeroboam who had rebelled against Rehoboam).
Salmanazar - Salmanezah or Shalmaneser; this is a Champagne bottle
size that holds the contents of twelve regular bottles, a mere nine liters.
Salmaneza - Salmaneza was
King of Assyria around 859-824 BCE.
Balthazar – Balthazar or Belshazzar; a Champagne bottle size that holds the contents of sixteen standard bottles; that is, twelve liters.
Balthazar - Balthazar, the man. Balthazar was the acting King of Babylon around and probably died when Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon in 539 BCE.
Nabuchodonoso – Nebuchadnezzar; a Champagne bottle size that holds
the contents of twenty regular bottles, 15 liters. A single bottle of
Nebuchadnezzar weighs 38 kilos; a crate of 12 will weigh 456 kilos without the
packing! You may order it online and have it delivered by Fed-Ex overnight.
Nabuchodonoso
– Nebuchadnezzar, the
man. Nebuchadnezzar was the King of Babylon around 605-562 BCE.
Salomon – Solomon; the Champagne bottle size that holds the
contents of twenty-four regular bottles that's 20 liters. How does one get
these bottles into the fridge?
Salomon –King
Solomon, the man. King Soloman of Israel built the first Temple in Jerusalem; he
was the son of King David. Solomon was considered both the wisest of men as
well as a lover of the Queen of Sheba. King Solomon must really have loved the
Queen of Sheba, plying her with crates of twenty-liter sized bottles of Champagne!
Sovereign – Sovereign; a rare Champagne bottle size that holds
the contents of thirty-three and a third standard bottles, that's twenty-five
liters. Despite its name, twenty-five liters is more than most sovereigns can
consume on even the best of days.
Primat – The Primate; the second-largest Champagne bottle ever
made. The Primat holds the contents of thirty-six regular bottles, 27 liters.
It is made, in the traditional Champagne shape by the Champagne House,
Maison Drappier in Reims.
A
Primate is the Roman Catholic title for the leading archbishop of an area.
Based on that, Maison Drappier notes on their website they gave that name to
this bottle to indicate the highest level of the French Roman Catholic church;
that is the Primat des Gaulles, the head of the French Church. How many Primate
bottles Maison Drappier send the French cardinal every year is not disclosed.
.
Melchisédech - The
Melchizedek; the largest champagne bottle commercially available. That's 1.10 meters tall (3.6 feet). The Melchisédech holds the
contents of 40 regular bottles, that's 30 liters. This bottle is a relatively
new addition to the world of giant champagne bottles.
Melchisédech
- Melchizedek, the man. In
the Bible, Melchizedek brought bread and wine to Abraham. However, Maison
Drappier, on their website, has this Melchisédech as a King of Babylon. That is
possible as, within the various traditions, there are a number of the
Melchizedeks. Some Melchizedeks were good, some were bad. A word of warning; do
not try and pack one of these bottles in your carry-on luggage when flying Easy
Jet. One of these Melchisédech bottles, including the glass, will weigh over 60
kilos.
The
Melchisédech is, like the Primat, produced by Maison Drappier. I imagine that a
Melchizedek is what you get when you walk into Maison Drappier and ask to buy a
regular bottle of their Champagne. Then a salesman or sales lady says,
"can we jumbo size that for you; " if you agree you may get a Melchizedek. That is about 3.000 Euros, plus the cost of shipping.
Some UK and USA bottles and measurements
The English pint began as a standard size for a beer mug. Traders sold freshly cooked shellfish, and the agreed measure was the pub's beer mugs. They held a pint of beer and for buying when no weighing scales were around a pint of shellfish. Despite the UK's, now terminated, membership in the European Common Market. The metric system has been a UK law for over 50 years, yet the pint remains a measure of beer and milk. (The French "pinte" has a different history and size. If you order a pint of beer in France, the measure you will receive is 500 cl, half a liter).
In a few traditional UK fishmongers, you may be able to ask the cost of a pint of shrimps in comparison with their pound weights, their metric weights, and their relative prices. The metric system has been the law in France since 1840 and in the UK for over 50 years; however, that doesn't seem to bother anyone in the USA. However, it should bother the people involved in educating the next generation. In 1999 NASA lost a $125 million Mars Orbiter when it ran out of fuel. Two groups of scientists were using different measuring systems for the amount of fuel required!
A US
Pint is 473ml, is 16 fluid ounces, and a UK pint is 588m. That is 20 fluid
ounces.
A US
quart is 0.95 liters, 32 fluid ounces; a UK quart is two UK pints, that is
1.176 liters or 40 fluid ounces.
A US Gallon is 3.50 liters, 128 fluid ounces; a UK Imperial gallon is 4.55 liters, 154 fluid ounces.
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