I was just offered a ton of large bottles including a 27 liter.

This is the equivalent of around 3 cases.

Who would buy this?
How do you know when to open it?
How do you deal with the shock and horror if it is corked?

Final question: what is the largest bottle you have opened and/or the largest bottle you have drunk from.

We had a 6L of 1986 Rieussec purchased direct from a distributor in OWC, where it had been sitting temperature controlled for many years since importation. They were clearing out some old stuff and we got it for a song.

Popped it with about 14 close friends at a special sushi dinner for our tenth anniversary. Even after sharing with the staff we only drank about 1/4 of it and ended up filling 6 750s that we sent home with people.

The wine was great and it was memorable, but I still look at the empty bottle sitting in the basement and think what a crazy idea it is to bottle Sauternes in such a large format. I’ve purchased a few 3L of my daughter’s birthyear wine since but can’t see buying many more, or anything larger than that.

It doesn’t occur to me that it would be acquired with the intention of consumption. Rather, a curiosity piece by someone to whom the money spent would not matter.

I would think a birth year wine purchased/intended for a child’s wedding. The Sauternes definitely fit that sort of description.

It’s a good bottle to open at a wedding or big birthday celebration. But you would have to have a large cellar to store it and a lot of foresight (you buy a bottle from your dauther’s birthyear for her wedding in 30 years). I personally had a few 6L which were quite great (but these were all old wines, last year a 6L Pichon Lalande 1970 as a table wine in a larger tasting with roughly 30 people). A friend of mine opened an 18L of an Italian wine for a birthday celebration (wine was roughly 10 years old max and hence not in its prime), I couldn’t attend but he told me that the spectacle was great for everybody but that it took 3 hours to remove the cork.

Only experience I had with a really large format was at a family gathering in France many years ago. Think summer, canapés and and all that. This was before I found wine interesting so couldn’t tell the exact size but remember it as being a massive bottle (required two persons to move it). It was put in a stand that could be operated to tilted and raised for a fill. I am guessing the wine was more modest but decent quality wine.

Went to a friend’s wedding a few years ago where his opened several 18L Bordeaux that his parents has bought during EP for his birthyear, 1982.

Largest format I have in my cellar is 3L

Now THAT…is a wedding! And helluva birth year to do it for as well! What were the wines and how did they show?

You could have one epic party for 50. We just did two separate 40ths for 12-15 people and at each had a 3L of Champagne or white (wasn’t enough), 6L of bordeaux (barely enough) and 3L of Sauternes (too much sauternes but great on days 2, 3, and 4). We also went through at least another case of wine at both between pre-dinner wine and post dinner afterparty. Other questions, where do you find your Melchior of Champagne? How much does a 27L bottle weigh? 6L in a 9L decanter is pretty heavy and you will need three along with some big boys to pour. Do you have your Vcanter https://www.vcanter.com/models/vcanter-edition/vcanterr-black-edition on order? I would cry if corked as I probably wouldn’t have a backup 27L on hand.

The really important question to be answered is should it be shipped in styro or cardboard.

2 bottles for 14 people plus staff? Something doesn’t add up unless half of them were not drinkers and the other half were on the wagon.

How in the world do you pop and pour a 27 liter bottle of wine? It must weigh 140+ lbs.

Just periodically use Coravin to extract a small pour to see if it’s ready.

6L = 8 750ml bottles

Equivalent to eight bottles

I even find a 3L a bit awkward to pour.

My question, too. And How big is the bottle? Must be enormous.

Sounds like they know you are a baller. I never get offers like these.

The wine would weigh about 60 pounds, plus the weight of the glass. Did I mention the cork? Or the foil capsule?

A dear friend had a 27 liter & we opened it on his 65th (big Party).
It was fine, needed a wheelbarrow !

PS He was a BALLER !