Wine Bottle Sizes

venki — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 19:55:00 GMT

As one begins to build and design a wine cellar, one thing is often overlooked, amusingly…the wine bottles. Wine bottles come in many sizes and shapes: The 750 ml is your most common, but there are splits which are 1/4 the size of the normal, Magnums which are equal to 2 normal bottles, Jeroboams which are equal to 4 bottles, and Methuselahs (everyone’s favorite) which are equal to 8 bottles. So you can see how important it is to really think about what type of bottles you will plan to store.

Bordeaux wines from France have the normal 750ml appearance, and New World wines based on Bordeaux grape varieties do as well. Red wines based on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot usually come in dark green Bordeaux bottles. White wines based on Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and dessert wines like Sauternes come in clear or light-green Bordeaux bottles. Italian wines like Chianti or Californian wines like Zinfandel may also use this bottle shape. What’s good about these wine bottles is they’re easy to store in a wine rack. You don’t need to use bulk storage and can therefore maximize storage capacity, which can be critical if you have a small storage space like a wine refrigerator or cabinet.

Burgundy wine bottles are elegant, slope-shouldered, dark-green, with a wide body. Traditional Burgundy grape varieties are Pinot Noir (red) and Chardonnay (white). New World producers of these grape varieties also use this same bottle shape. Other French wine-producing regions use a similar bottle, like the Loire Valley and the Rhone (grape variety – Syrah). However, the Rhone bottle is not quite as wide and the slope is more severe than a Burgundy bottle. In general, Bordeaux bottles are 3 inches in diameter, while Burgundy bottles are 3.5. Since most wine racks are designed for the former, Burgundy wine bottles can cause a lot of storage problems. If this is your wine preference consider the space of your wine cellar.

Champagne wine bottles, Turley, and Magnums can be very similar in appearance to Burgundy bottles. Like Burgundy bottles they are also 3.5 inches in diameter or more, but they are much thicker and heavier bottles, with big indentations in the bottom of the bottle. These bottles are designed to withstand 90 pounds per square inch of pressure, which is three times the pressure in a typical car tire. Champagne wine bottles have storage problems very similar to Burgundy bottles and the solutions are the same (either adding large format wine racks or using diamond bins or case bins). Again, consider your wine cellar space.

Always keep your bottles stored in wine racks that will keep your corks moist. Store your wines in a room which has a stable and consistent temperature and humidity level (70%), little to no vibrations, and obviously no odors (including stains, wood species, and even paint finishes).

Design is very important to each wine cellar but one should not overlook function as well. With the proper wine cellar design, you should be able to achieve your dream design with affordability and functionality as well.

Cheers!

Joseph Kline
Principal. Design & Cellar Concepts.

Joseph & Curtis Custom Wine Cellars & Humidors

We design, build, stock and manage.

www.josephandcurtis.com
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Importance of the wine cellar

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:58:00 GMT

As more and more people become interested in wine and the presentation of wine in their homes, the consumer is faced with a couple of issues: 1. The importance of a wine cellar, 2. Cellar requirements, 3. Cellar maintenance. Being a wine cellar designer and builder, I have been helping people deal well with these issues for years. Let’s start with the importance of a wine cellar. The wine cellar is usually built as a place to store and preserve your wine. It is vital that the wine cellar be built with limited or very little natural light. It is also imperative that the temperature be as consistent as possible and hopefully as close to 56 degrees as possible. Fluctuations in temperature can cause your wine to age prematurely. Another important aspect for a cellar is humidity. 70% is ideal, and any good cooling system will be able to keep your wine cellar at 56-60 degrees as well as a 70% humidity level. See our web site for more information on cooling systems.

Cellar requirements and maintenance usually begins with the cooling system. It is vital that a wine cellar be built with a vapor barrier as well as proper insulation (closed cell poly being the best), rigid foam is another choice. It is also vital that an exterior grade door be used so the refrigeration temperatures do not escape the room. All of these steps will help your cooling system work less which means it should last a lot longer. Check to see your system is dust free, as well as in a room that allows your condensing unit to vent properly. A good rule of thumb is the room should be as big as the room where the wine cellar is located. Keeping your wine cellar door closed is another good rule. You should try to keep the cellar filled with bottles, as the temperature of the liquid in the wine will help keep the wine cellar to the desired temperature. Using stone and ceramic tile on the floor will also help keep the room stable, as well as LED lighting which emits zero heat.

Planning your wine cellar ahead of time will allow you to store the exact number of bottles you will need, at Joseph and Curtis Custom Wine Cellars we offer design services to help you conceive your future wine cellar.

When beginning your research, it’s important to think whether or not you want strictly storage or an entertainment space. You may find our web site useful for pictures, as well as ideas, for all your future wine cellar needs. Wine Cellars

Curtis Dahl
President of Global Sales
Wine Cellars

Where we offer custom engraving. Put your initials,name,message,logo,you name it on our products!

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Wine Bottle Sizes

Importance of the wine cellar