Are magnums worth 3X. the price.

WINE TALK
21

One thing about 3L’s and up is the opportunity to open them. I used to have a fair amount of 3L’s and larger, but eventually sold most of them as I realized that the opportunity to open a 3, 5 or even 6L bottle of a special wine and have enough wine geeks who could appreciate it was extremely limited. For the right situation, they are great fun to open, but like I said, I found those opportunities to be far more limited than I originally considered.

22

They are more desirable which is why I always lock in magnums for Bordeaux futures, when they are about 5% over the cost of two bottles.

23

Agree. We usually have 6 of us together for meals around the holiday’s and can go through 4-6 750s with ease. A magnum is always great to open with a larger group so everyone gets to try a little more of that wine. The 3Ls will have a more limited scope. I will likely buy a few birth year 3Ls for my son though. I just need to figure out a best practice for storing them in my cellar.

24

This is why I am buying 375s! I think I own 3 magnums. It is very rare I want that much of one wine; I’d rather open different wines if the need for more liquid arises.

25

I love Churchill’s pronouncement
“A magnum is perfect bottle for lunch for two people, if one is not drinking.”

26

I’m with Henry above, my EP purchases are often magnums or halves as I get the bottle size I want at negligible price difference.

27

Some of us in the business did a cost analysis a few years back. Maybe someone can locate that.

28

Ouch, that’s hardcore. I tap out at a bottle and a half. [drinkers.gif]

29

Are we sure this isnt a typo??
When I sold bottles, most people stuck to 75cl size because otherwise they needed change parts for half bottles and magnums.

Half bottles cost 60% of regular bottles; magnums, maybe a little more than twice as much as regular bottles. With half bottles you need more corks, more foils and more labels. With mags you need special sized labels.

If you have a bad cork on a magnums…whoops…there goes two bottles.

30

Great responses. I get a couple of takeaways:

  1. wines are not necessarily better in mags or larger formats, but wines will age longer in mags vs 750s
  2. mags are better for Champagne because of the secondary fermentation in bottle.

Do I have that right?

31

I liked the 2018 Jaboulet Cotes du Rhone “Parallel 45” Rouge Magnums that Garagiste was selling for $18.71. I remember paying $11 or $12 for the 750 ml a few years back so I thought it was a good deal.

32

Garagiste used to do the st cosme cdr in mags every year for similar price. Thats the one thing i miss about garagiste

33

Don’t normally buy Magnums for this reason, but Zachys DC recently had an inventory sale and I picked up:

2015 Fontodi Chianti Classico — 1.5L — $58.49
2015 Fattoria di Fèlsina Berardenga Chianti Classico Riserva Rancia — 1.5L — $84.49
2016 Fontodi Chianti Classico Gran Selezione Vigna del Sorbo — 3L — $249.99

All cheaper than the 750ML equivalent Cellartracker average value. The Sorbo nearly 20% cheaper than 750ML CTAV.

Obviously not the same level as Scarecrow, but still was happy with the deals.

34

I’d say the evidence for all of that is both anecdotal and subjective. As we don’t really know much about the science of aging, all we can do is trust our own palates, and those differ quite broadly. The theory has been that the ratio of liquid to gas in a magnum is different than in smaller bottles so the aging process slows, but since there really is little science on how that process works, it is all received wisdom of the ages instead of peer reviewed fact

35

Same here.

We charge 2x plus $10 for magnums. The bottles are more expensive, and we bottle them by hand so labor is a bit more. But anything over 2.2 starts to make me wonder why?

36

And one more:

  1. If you wanna be a Baller, show up with a Maggie, especially of a unicorn wine.

Otherwise, what Neal said. Very sage comments.

37

Everyone’s life is different, of course, but I consistently am challenged to find occasions for the magnums I have, and now triply so in the COVID shutdown world.

Oddly, I’m more likely to find uses for the friendly, more moderately-priced magnums, that I can show up with to dinner with a few other non-geek couples (and not have to bring multiple bottles, a wine carrier bag, have the bag to schlep around if we go somewhere after dinner). Show up for dinner with a few couples, bring a magnum of Carlisle zin, Felsina Rancia, Sea Smoke, Ridge Geyserville, everyone is happy.

The magnums of serious wine geek wines just seem to languish endlessly – even when I get together for those kinds of tastings, which I do often, the emphasis is usually on trying more different wines rather than double portions of one.

Again, this is just how my wine life seems to go, I know it’s different for others.

38

Similar story here, Chris. Other than champagne, which I buy in magnum almost whenever possible, our magnums are mostly food friendly, moderately priced, easy going wines, things a lot of people will enjoy having more than just one glass of, if we’re having a dinner. It’s great to be able to say “yeah, there’s more,” without having to pull another bottle. And if there are leftovers, well that’s just fine and fun for the two of us the next day.

39

I would rather drink any of those than Scarecrow. That Sorbo deal in particular was smoking… Well done! [cheers.gif]

40

second point makes sense but first doesn’t. Concentration of sugar and yeast in the bottle are same between 750 and magnum. Fermentation should take same time. Explain.