Why is the standard capacity of a wine bottle 750mL?

01 Lung capacity determines the size of the wine bottle

Glass products in that era were all blown manually by craftsmen, and the normal lung capacity of a worker was about 650ml~850ml, so the glass bottle manufacturing industry took 750ml as a production standard.

02 The evolution of wine bottles

In the 17th century, the laws of European countries stipulated that wineries or wine merchants must sell wine to consumers in bulk. So there will be this scene – the wine merchant scoops the wine into the empty bottle, corks the wine and sells it to the consumer, or the consumer buys the wine with his own empty bottle.

At the beginning, the capacity chosen by countries and producing areas was not consistent, but later “forced” by Bordeaux’s international influence and learning Bordeaux’s winemaking techniques, countries naturally adopted the 750ml wine bottle commonly used in Bordeaux.

03 For the convenience of selling to the British

The United Kingdom was the main market for Bordeaux wine at that time. The wine was transported by water in wine barrels, and the carrying capacity of the ship was calculated according to the number of wine barrels. At that time, the capacity of a barrel was 900 liters, and it was transported to the British port for loading. The bottle, just enough to hold 1200 bottles, is divided into 100 boxes.

But the British measure in gallons rather than liters, so in order to facilitate the sale of wine, the French set the capacity of the oak barrels to 225L, which is about 50 gallons. An oak barrel can hold 50 cases of wine, each containing 6 bottles, which is exactly 750ml per bottle.

So you will find that although there are so many different types of wine bottles all over the world, all shapes and sizes are all 750ml. Other capacities are usually multiples of 750ml standard bottles, such as 1.5L (two bottles), 3L (four bottles), etc.

04 750ml is just right for two people to drink

750ml of wine is just right for two adults to enjoy a dinner, an average of 2-3 glasses per person, no more and no less. Wine has a long history of development and has been a favorite daily drink of nobles as early as in ancient Rome. At that time, the brewing technology was not as high as it is now, and the alcohol content was not as high as it is now. It is said that the nobles at that time only drank 750ml a day, which could only reach a state of slight intoxication.