What's That Dimple on the Bottom For? All About Bottle Shape

What's That Dimple on the Bottom For? All About Bottle Shape

The type of bottle winemakers choose is heavily rooted in tradition, based on their type of wine and their own chateau or winery history. Regardless of the wine, there's something classic about a fine glass bottle of wine. Each bottle of wine takes more time and skill to produce than any other alcoholic beverage. Every glass bottle has a history all its own as well. Wine is never bottled away from the chateau. Every time you drink wine, you are literally touching a part of the chateau from which it was born.

Why are wine bottles so varied? Some are dark, some are clear, some have very gentle sloping shoulders, and some have a very wide neck. Almost all wine bottles have a dimple at the bottom, called the "punt" or the "kick-up". It's the variation and the interesting history of glass wine bottles that adds to the elegance of wine collecting and enjoyment. Winemakers from all around the world usually choose the bottle that their chateau or winery has always used. For new varieties, wine makers will choose the "premier" bottle that they want their vintage to be associated with.

Color is one feature of wine bottles that serves a fairly important purpose. Traditionally, reds have always been bottled in dark green, whites in light green bottles and sweet wines in clear bottles. The color of the glass serves to protect the wine from ultraviolet rays, which can degrade wine.

Shape is a highly variable feature that really has no major significant purpose. Typically, wine bottles have the classic high-shouldered body with a sudden slope flowing into the neck of the bottle. Sherry, port and Bordeaux bottles have this classic shape with a very high punt. Burgundy and Rhne wines are usually sold in tall bottles with a very gentle slope flowing into the neck (verses the traditional sudden slope) and a small punt. For Champagne and other sparkling wines, the bottle shape may vary but they always have thicker walls to withstand the excess pressure.

So, why do wine bottles have punts? There's really no single answer. Hundreds of years ago, hand-blown wine glass bottles had dimples as a result of the blowing process. Historically the dimple also serves to make the bottle appear bigger and allows for bottles to be stacked in transit. It is also popular myth that the punt allowed peasants in the middle ages who couldn't afford decanters to enjoy the heavy-sediment fine wines of the day. As it was hundreds of years ago, the dimple can serve to allow sediment to settle in a ring at the bottom of the glass. This keeps it from ending up in your glass when properly poured!

Classic wine bottles you find in liquor and grocery stores are usually 750 mL. In Europe and finer wine stores in America, you can find all sorts of sizes. Winemakers even name the sizes of bottles. For example, a 37.5 mL bottle is called a "demi", and a large 3 L bottle is called an "Imperial" or "Methuselah". These names serve historical purpose and have classical elegance that further hints to the complexity of fine wine enjoyment.

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