750ml - where did it come from and why that size? Curious…
Got me to thinking…it would be nice to have something a little larger than a 750ml, but smaller than a mag. Say, 6 glasses worth (vs. the 4-5 glasses in the current bottle).
Curious if the board has any thoughts. Of course, a size change would wreak havoc on existing storage, bottling, etc…
The quick answer is that the US formalized the size of wine bottles with plurality in major European nations to 750 ml, or 25.4 ounces, in 1972 for the 1973 vintage. This struck a balance between American fluid ounce measurements and metric to standardize glass production globally. Further, 750ml is nearly identical to one fifth of a gallon, a very typical American measurement.
Going back further to the 16th and 17th century when glass bottles for wine were gaining popularity as a consistent and reliable container for beverages, glass blowers made all bottles by hand. A typical glass blower’s lung capacity represented approximately 750ml using one breath to create a bottle. Hence the average size of wine bottles stems from the average lung capacity of European glass blowers 400-500 years ago. (Source: Local Wine and Spirits website)
Too much havoc if they changed the standard from 750 to say 1125, I’d be happy if more wineries would standardize to Bdx size bottles so I don’t scrape the labels off when I open a shelf.
very cool history! thanks. Have always been curious myself
The idea that a bottle of wine is 750 mL because that’s the lung capacity of a European glass blower is a romantic and appealing notion, but I don’t think it’s true. If you look up the spirometry averages, a normal middle aged man should be able to have a forced vital capacity of about 5 liters. Even if they weren’t taking full breaths and you accounted for poorer health, it still wouldn’t get you anywhere close to 0.75L.
During a recent trip to Bandol, we discovered a number of producers there sell 500 ml bottles, which we found to be a perfect size. Split one over lunch, drink 2 over dinner. Always seemed to solve the problem of 750s being either one glass too much or one glass short.
You certainly know what Winston Churchil said about the size of a bottle of Champagne:
“magnum is the perfect size of a bottle of champagne when you are two people together and when only one drinks…”
I thought Winston Churchill was famous for enjoying a pint (60cl) of Champagne day ? Another quote from the Pol Roger website:
“He famously borrowed a slogan of Napoleon’s to describe his passion for this supremely invigorating champagne: “In defeat I need it, in victory I deserve it””
Are you accounting for the resistance of the glass?
As far as I know this is widely publicised romantic version that has no relation to reality.
A .75 liter lung capacity is not enough to sustain a man’s oxygen requirements. Typically we have about 4-5 liters capacity which certainly did not change much over centuries. You could arrive at .75 liters by assuming this is what is leftover by the time the glass-blower has used his other air capacity to shape the bottle, etc. However, due to very high individual differences among individuals in lung capacity, there is no way .75 would be “standard”… My guess would be that .75 liter became standard when the US mandated it on all imports. Prior to that there was a wide variability in bottle sizes throughout Europe.
I don’t buy this at all. Pull out a balloon and tell me you can blow it all the way up with 1 breath and have some left for 4 more before all the air is expelled.
I think you left a decimal point off of that 5L.
You’re right that there’s a factor missing, but a normal person with a full breath can absolutely blow out ~5L. Someone mentioned resistance above. If someone can figure out how to correct FVC for blowing glass or blowing a balloon (resistance? Pressure? Maybe using Boyle’s law if the glass exerts pressure on the volume of air you blow from your lungs?) maybe we get closer to 0.75L.
I think I’m happy with 750 mL bottles. If the bottle size increased, so would the price of the juice inside. Then we’d all be complaining about wine prices increasing even though we’d be getting more wine.
I thought we were talking about size of the bottle as it physically sits in a cellar. I was going to rant until I passed out. Oh well. 
Or they can do what mfrs do with every other product out there. Make the package smaller so they don’t have to raise the price, then raise the price later anyway.
1-1/2qt half gallon of ice cream
13oz pound of coffee
30oz quart of mayo or ketchup
5oz Tuna can
Narrower toilet paper! Oh the horror!
I’m just waiting to see when the Large Egg gets downsized and screws up everyone’s recipes.
Just be happy you still get 750ml of wine.
I have heard that story before, but question whether it is true for two reasons:
The average healthy male (I’m assuming most glassblowers were male) can blow out 1500 ml. (tidal volume + expiratory reserve volume). It might have been lower in the 16th-17th centuries, but not that much lower I wouldn’t think.
I have watched glassblowers work. They are not limited to a single breath per item.
Anyone know the real skinny on this?
This thread reminds me of the story of the space shuttle and how it relates to the size of two Roman horse’s asses.
i would be very happy in a world where standard bottle was 1L and half-bottle was, er, 0.5L
In fact, it’s illegal (TTB) to bottle wine in anything other than an approved size (750ml, 500ml, 375ml etc) for exactly this reason
apparently I am really old, but prior to the current 750ml ‘bottle’ (about 1980?), the standard size in the USA was 1/5 gallon, or about 757ml. I have no idea if these were harmonized with Europe and the rest of the world before or after that time, nor where the 1/5 gallon came from, but perhaps this helps.