Minisode #11: Does the Shape of a Wine Bottle Matter?

Show Notes

Why Do Wines Come in Different Shaped Bottles?

Hi everyone, and welcome to this special mini-episode of The Wine Pair Podcast! I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and this is my wife and my wine pairing partner in crime Carmela. And we are The Wine Pair.

If you are new to The Wine Pair Podcast, these minisodes are just shorter versions of the regular podcast that we put on weeks where we might be traveling or handling other life stuff, and instead of tasting and reviewing three wines under $20 that are easy to find, which is what we usually do in our longer episodes, in the minisodes, we focus more on things like wine etiquette, wine education, and wine tips. And, we try to make it fun and understandable to regular, everyday people like us! And our podcast is recommended by Decanter magazine. Which is pretty fun.

So, again, because things are busy around The Wine Pair Podcast household, we are taking a bit of a break and doing a few of these minisodes so we can spend time on a few other things while still providing you all with our wholesome brand of wine entertainment. 

For this minisode, we want to tackle the question of why some wines come in different shapes of bottles. Like, why do some wines come in tall thin bottles, and others come in bottles that flair out at the bottom, and why some bottles have these big indentations on the bottom of them. Have you ever wondered that, Carmela? And, does the shape of the bottle matter? What do you think? (Here’s the dirty secret, the shape does not matter all that much - it’s really more about tradition)

To make it as simple as possible, there are really 5 basic wine bottle shapes, and, like many things related to wine, they all basically come from regions in France that are also associated with specific wines. The bottle shapes are Burgundy, Bordeaux, Rhône, Alsace, and Champagne. There is a sixth shape for sweet wines that we won’t go into, but it is basically a thin half bottle. 

And then there are also wines from Piedmont in Italy, wines like Barolo and Barbaresco, which come in their own unique wine shape called Albeisa, which is sort of a Bordeaux bottle with the sloped shoulders of a Burgundy. You can tell the wine bottle by its shape, but also because the wine bottle is often embossed with the name Albeisa - and the bottles originally came from Alba. The reason those exist is because Piedmont was jealous of the French, basically, and wanted their own wine bottle shape. 

But most wines come in the five classic bottle shapes. And really there is one wine bottle that most wines come in, which probably comes down to economics more than anything, because a more popular shaped wine bottle is going to cost less based on supply and demand. 

Again, there is the ongoing question - is there a reason why certain wines are put in different shapes of bottles? And, again, the quick answer is basically no. It is more tradition than function, and I will say that some bottles, like the Bordeaux, are actually much easier to store than others, and most wine fridges are really built to accommodate that shape, which can make it frustrating if you like wines that come in other shaped bottles. 

The most common bottle shape is the Bordeaux bottle. It has straight sides and high shoulders, and a relatively low profile. In these bottles, along with Bordeaux blends, you will commonly see wines like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Chianti, Syrah/Shiraz, Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Chenin Blanc in these bottles. It’s kind of a boring bottle, but, hey, it works. A lot of mass produced wines, etc. come in these shaped bottles. 

The Burgundy bottle, which I find more appealing from a look and feel standpoint, but not as easy to store, has sloping shoulders that widen out to a base and a shorter neck. The most common wines to find in these bottles are Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, which are Burgundian wines, and you may also find Mourvèdre, Syrah, Viognier, Grenache, Tempranillo, and Cinsault in these bottles.

The Rhône bottle is next, and it is similar to a Burgundy bottle, but they tend to be taller with longer necks, and will often have embossed badges on them in France. You will find Rhône GSM blends in these bottles, as well as Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and you will also find other Rhone varietals in them like Grenache, Mourvèdre, Viognier, Syrah, Marsanne, and Roussanne.

The Champagne bottle is obviously made famous by the sparkling wine Champagne, and these are similar to Burgundy bottles, but the glass is thicker, and often the bottom is bigger, and there is a big indent on the bottom called a punt. The punt is really just for decoration, and if someone tells you differently, you should scoff at them. Almost all sparkling wines come in these bottles. 

And, finally, there is the Alsace or Rhine bottle, which is a pretty, tall, and slender bottle. The most common wines found in these bottles come from the Alsace region in France, as well as Germany, and the varietals are generally Riesling, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer, and Grüner Veltliner, although I have had Alsace Pinot Noir in an Alsace bottle. 

So, there you have it. Do you have a favorite bottle shape, Carmela? Again, Although I find it the least interesting, I do find the Bordeaux bottle the most efficient.

So the next time you want to look really cool, you can just look at the shape of a wine bottle and amaze your friends and family as you tell them how excited you are to have a certain wine that comes in that shape of bottle.

But that’s it, friends. Be free and frolic. 

If you want to see the sources for our content today and get the links to learn more, come to our website, look for this minisode, and open up the show notes. 

Articles and Links

• https://www.goodpairdays.com/guides/wine-101/article/wine-bottle-shapes/
• https://www.themanual.com/food-and-drink/wine-bottle-size-shape-guide/
• https://www.firstleaf.com/wine-school/article/guide-wine-bottle-shapes 
• https://vinepair.com/articles/piedmont-wine-bottle-shape-albeisa/ 

You can also check out our other minisodes to learn more which you can find on our website or your favorite podcast service. You can follow us on Instagram at thewinepairpodcast or you can visit our website thewinepairpodcast.com and in any of those places you can reach out to us directly, and you can send us an email at joe@thewinepairpodcast.com. We also will have our show notes on our website, and we will include links to articles on this topic as well. And, on our website you can also sign up for our fun newsletter!

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