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Recently on the The Mead Lover's Digest there was a question about the names of
the various bottle sizes used for wines and champagnes.
Many people researched the answer, and I've collected the best of the research here.
By far, the most complete answer came from Michael L. Hall,
but there were other contributions I've included, too.
| Name of Bottle | Applied to | Size (litres) | Size (bottles) | Size (other) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarter Bottle | Champagne | .1875 | .25 | |
| Piccolo | Champagne | .1875 | .25 | |
| from the Italian, meaning small | ||||
| Half Bottle | All | .375 | .5 | |
| Split | Champagne | .375 | .5 | |
| Fillette | Bordeaux | .375 | .5 | |
| Pot | Beaujolais | .5 | .666 | |
| Imperial pint | Champagne | .588 | .784 | 20 fl oz |
| Bottle | All | .75 | 1 | |
| Magnum | All | 1.5 | 2 | |
| from the latin magnus, meaning large | ||||
| Tappit Hen | Port | 2.27 | 3 | |
| from tappit (Scots var. of topped) + hen | ||||
| Marie-Jeanne | Bordeaux | 2.25 | 3 | |
| Double Magnum | Wine | 3 | 4 | |
| Jeroboam | Champagne | 3 | 4 | |
| The first king of the Hebrews in N. Palestine | ||||
| Jeroboam | Port | 3 | 4 | |
| Rehoboam | Champagne | 4.5 | 6 | |
| The successor of Solomon and the first king of Judah | ||||
| Jeroboam | Bordeaux | 4.5 | 6 | |
| Imperial | Wine | 6 | 8 | |
| Methuselah | Champagne | 6 | 8 | |
| A patriarch who lived to 969 years of age | ||||
| Salmanazar | All | 9 | 12 | |
| var. of Shalmaneser, a biblical king (2 Kings 18:9) | ||||
| Balthazar | All | 12 | 16 | |
| One of the magi | ||||
| Nebuchadnezzar | All | 15 | 20 | |
| A king of Babylonia (604? - 561? BC) and conqueror of Jerusalem. II Kings 24, 25 | ||||
| Sovereign | Champagne | 25 | 33.33 | |
| Barrel | Wine | 119 | 31.5 gal | |
| ML (ca 800) barriclus, meaning small cask | ||||
| Hogshead | Wine | 238 | 63 gal | |
| Pipe | Port Wine | 476 | 126 gal. | |
| Tun | Wine | 953 | 1270 | 252 gal |
- Jane MacQuitty's Pocket Guide to Champagne and Sparkling Wines, by Mitchell Beazley (England), ISBN 0-85533-619-6
- Random House Unabridged Dictionary, ISBN 0-67942-917-4
- The Wine Spectator
- International Critical Tables, 1926, National Academy of Sciences, McGraw-Hill
- Alexis Lichines' New Encyclopedia of Wines and Spirits, Appendix C
- Joern Hagerup
- Mike Christensen
- John Whitmore
- rose@cs.wisc.edu
- Carsten Lutz
- Dick Dunn
- Josh Hayes
- Steve Otruba
- Dave Kehlet
- John Coughlin
- Luke Fitzgerald
- Bob Brunjes
- Christopher A. Pugh
- Steve Lamont