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Bottle Size...What Is That Huge Bottle Called?

posted by Karen Orlandi on June 29, 2009 in Wine IQ

Wineries, especially in Europe, produce larger and smaller format bottles than the typical 750ml bottle size that most people are familiar with purchasing. The larger sizes are ideal for groups and special events. The smaller sizes offer conveniences for individual servings. If you have ever been curious about what sizes have ever been offered and the industry terms for those sizes, here is a succinct chart.

Name Volume Bottle Equivalency Bordeaux Burgundy/Rhone Champagne
Half 375 ml 1/2 Bottle 1/2 Bottle 1/2 Bottle
Bottle 750 ml 1 Bottle 1 Bottle 1 Bottle
Magnum 1500 ml (1.5L)  2 Bottles 2 Bottles 2 Bottles
Marie Jeanne 2250 ml (2.25 L          3 Bottles (not used) (not used)
Double Magnum 3000 ml (3 L) 4 Bottles (not used) (not used)
Jeroboam 5000 ml (5 L) 6.6 Bottles 6.6 Bottles 6.6 Bottles
Rehoboam 4500 ml (4.5L L) (not used)  6 Bottles 6 Bottles
Imperial 6000 ml (6 L) 8 Bottles (not used) (not used)
Methusela 6000 ml (6 L) (not used) 8 Bottles 8 Bottles
Salmanazar 9000 ml (9 L (not used) 12 Bottles 12 Bottles
Balthazar 12000 ml (12 L)  16 Bottles 16 Bottles 16 Bottles
Nebuchadnezzar 15000 ml (12 L) 20 Bottles 20 Bottles 20 Bottles
Melchior 18000 ml (18 L)  24 Bottles 24 Bottles 24 Bottles
         

 

And here are some interesting facts on the naming convention, because where in the world did they get these names!?!

Jeroboam II was King of Israel during the traditional year of Rome's founding (753 BC) and as the Greeks were emerging from the Dark Age that separated Homer from the Parthenon. A son of Solomon, Rehoboam became King of Judah in 933 BC.

Methuselah was an antediluvian patriarch described in the Old Testament as having lived 969 years and whose name is synonymous with great age. He may well have evolved from a character of earlier Sumerian legend who lived for 65,000 years. To the Old Testament scribes this was perhaps too tall a tale, so they may have cut him back to a more conservative lifespan.

Salmanazar, derived from Shalmaneser, an Assyrian monarch who reigned around 1250 BC, just about the time the science of iron smelting was first imported into his kingdom from Anatolia.

Balthazar ("King of Treasures") is the traditional name of one of the Three Wise Men, the other two being Melchior ("King of Light") and Gaspar ("The White One"). Many scholars nowadays tend to characterize the trio not as kings, but rather as Zoroastrian priests, while others speculate that at least one of them was a king - namely Azes II of Bactria who reigned from 35 BC to 10 AD. Whatever their occupations, legend has it that the Three Wise Men, or at the very least their skulls, lie buried in a golden shrine at Cologne Cathedral.

Nebuchadnezzar, originally nabu-kudurri-usur meaning "Nabu protect the boundary", became King of the Chaldean Empire in 604 BC. He was actually the second Nebuchadnezzar; a less celebrated Nebuchadnezzar I preceded him by 500 years.

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