Why 750 ml bottles?
Monday, September 21st, 2009Have you ever wondered why most glass wine bottles are 750 ml? There are a few theories, but first, a little history…
Although glass blowing has been around since ancient Roman times, glass was expensive. Wine was usually carried and stored in clay jugs with glass more often used for serving wine. It wasn’t until the 18th Century, that something close to the modern day wine bottle could be found in common use. Not coincidentally, the use of the cork stopper developed at this time.
As far as size is concerned, most antique wine bottles fall into the range of 600 ml to 800 ml. Eventually, Great Britain legalized the “fifth” bottle – one-fifth of a gallon – as the standard size for wine and liquor and the United States followed with a standard one-fifth of a U.S. gallon (approximately 757 ml). Meanwhile, Europe gravitated to the similar 750 ml metric size which Canada changed to when we “went Metric”. The US changed to the 750 ml metric measurement for wine in 1979.
But all this begs a question: Why the specific “fifth” or 750ml size? The three most common theories are:
1) This is the average capacity of a glass-blower’s lungs, and thus the size of a bottle created in one steady blow.
2) A typical “fifth” weighs about 2½ pounds, a convenient size to pack and carry.
3) The “fifth” size originated as proper ration for a grown man at a meal.
No one seems to know for certain!
