Container Designations 1) 375ml This designation refers to a small bottle that holds 375ml of wine, half as much as a standard wine container. 2) 750ml This designation refers to the standard-sized bottle that holds 750ml of wine, or 4/5-quarts. This size bottle, regardless of whether it has a straight or sloping neck, is used for red, white, rosÊ and sparkling wines. Sparkling wine bottles appear to be larger than standard because they are made of thicker glass to withstand the pressures of carbonation, but they contain 750ml of wine. 3) Magnum This designation refers to a bottle that holds 1.5 liters of wine, the equivalent of two 750ml bottles. Sparkling wines are sometimes fermented in magnums because this method is believed to lengthen the wine’s life. 4) Double Magnum This designation refers to a bottle that holds three liters of wine, the equivalent of four 750ml bottles. 5) Jeroboam A jeroboam of sparkling wine holds three liters, the equivalent of a double magnum or four 750ml bottles. A Jeroboam of still wine is the equivalent of six 750ml bottles or 4.5 liters. Because of recent U.S. regulations limiting larger bottles to even liter sizes, some modern red wine "Jeroboams" are now 5 liters rather than the traditional 4.5 liters. 6) Rehoboam This designation refers to an oversized bottle that holds approximately 4.5 liters of wine, the equivalent of six 750ml bottles. 7) Imperial This designation refers to an oversized bottle that holds approximately six liters of wine, the equivalent of eight 750ml bottles.
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8) Methuselah This designation also refers to an oversized bottle that holds approximately six liters of wine, the equivalent of eight 750ml bottles but a different shape than the Imperial. 9) Salmanazar This designation refers to an oversized bottle that holds approximately nine liters of wine, the equivalent of twelve 750ml bottles. 10) Balthazar This term refers to a bottle that holds approximately twelve liters of wine, the equivalent of sixteen 750ml bottles. 11) Nebuchadnezzar This designation refers to an oversized bottle that holds approximately thirteen to fifteen liters of wine, depending on the manufacturer, date, country and region of manufacture— the equivalent of approximately seventeen to twenty 750ml bottles.
Case
This term refers to a group of twelve 750ml or 4/5-quart bottles of wine. A case may consist of a single varietal and vintage year, or it may be a mixed lot of varietals with several vintage dates and/or non-vintage items.
Half Barrel
A half barrel holds one hundred twenty 750ml bottles of wine, the equivalent of ten cases of twelve such bottles.
Magnum Case
This term refers to a group of six 1.5-liter magnum bottles, each bottle the equivalent of two 750ml bottles.
Barrel
A full barrel holds two hundred forty 750ml bottles of wine, the equivalent of twenty cases of twelve such bottles.