Wine bottles

Bordeaux

The Bordeaux bottle is currently one of the world's most popular bottle shapes. As the name suggests, it originally comes from the celebrated winegrowing region in western France.

Almost 100% of wines from this region are filled in Bordeaux bottles. That means all the nectar from a good 120,000 hectares i.e. a total of approximately 6 million hectolitres of fine wine filled in Bordeaux bottles. And that’s “only” in this eponymous region! Essentially, the Bordeaux bottle can be used for any kind of wine. However, the majority of Bordeaux bottles in circulation are likely to contain dry red wine. The Bordeaux shape is also widespread for physical reasons: it is the most stable of all the basic wine bottle shapes.

Shape of the Bordeaux bottle
Like the Burgundy bottle, the base of the Bordeaux bottle is slightly concave to prevent deposits (sediment) from escaping when pouring. Its rather tall shoulders and generally tapered body are what give it such a striking appearance, and it now comes with all types of finish. This means that any type of closure can in turn be used in Bordeaux bottles, surely contributing to the fact that this shape is streaking ahead in the popularity stakes.

Colours of Bordeaux bottles
As most storable wines are filled in Bordeaux bottles, this shape comes largely in dark, muted shades somewhere between dark brown and dark green. In the white wine segment, one is increasingly seeing Bordeaux bottles in dark hues as well. The well-known Steiermark (Styria) bottle, for example, also features the Bordeaux shape and has naturally become renowned in white as well, mainly thanks to the “Junker” young wine brand.

XXL Bordeaux bottles
Given its aforementioned stability, the basic Bordeaux shape also forms the basis for current large bottle formats. Large bottles are particularly suitable for storing and ageing wines. The best-known models have borne rather Biblical names since time immemorial:

Magnum: 1.5 l = 2 bottles
Double magnum: 3.0 l = 4 bottles
Jeroboam: 4.5 l = 6 bottles
Imperial: 6.0 l = 8 bottles
Salmanazar: 9.0 l = 12 bottles
Balthazar: 12.0 l = 16 bottles
Nebuchadnezzar: 15.0 l = 20 bottles
Goliath: 18.0 l = 24 bottles

Another advantage of the classic Bordeaux bottle delights mainly those wine enthusiasts who store wines “bottle on bottle”. Its long, compact body and rather short neck ensure that Bordeaux bottles can be stacked on top of one another very stably. Quite in contrast to Rhine wine or Burgundy bottles, which tend to slide quite a bit. From a product design perspective, the Bordeaux bottle gives the impression of stability and heaviness which in turn gives the potential buyer a physical impression of the wine itself. It suggests a rich and expressive wine with a certain degree of storability. In our range too, the Bordeaux bottle is often selected as the basic shape for medium-heavy to heavy wines, mostly in our basic colours …

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