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 Size
Matters
By Martin Pugh
With the Holiday Season upon us, thoughts of
wines, ports, Sherries, and champagne to accompany our festive
meals are probably going through most of our minds.
Champagne is a drink I myself only partake in usually at
Christmas, and usually with just my wife, and a couple of candles.
A good champagne can be expensive so care should be taken to buy
the correct size of bottle for your needs. The French, being of
passionate, but sensible stock have therefore created more sizes
of bottle for champagne than other wines.
Most of you will be aware of some of the various sizes, but
probably not all. It should be pointed out that some of the larger
sizes will certainly not be available unless requested direct from
the producer (and even then may not be available). But why not
give a thrill to your wine merchant by asking for one anyway!
The Champagne Sizes
- Split - One quarter of a standard bottle (187ml).
Enough for one full flute, or perfect for a toast for
two.
- Demi-Bottle - Half a standard bottle (375ml).
- Bottle - The standard size (750ml). Usually enough
for 6 to 8 flutes.
- Magnum - 2 bottles (1.5 liters). A great party
favor.
- Jeroboam - 4 bottles (3 liters). Named after the king
of Israel 931-910 b.c.
- Rehoboam - 6 bottles (4.5 liters). From Roboam, king
of Judea 931-913 b.c.
- Methuselah - 8 bottles (6 liters). Named after the
biblical patriarch who lived 969 years.
- Salmanazar - 12 bottles (9 liters). Named after the
king of Syria 858-825 b.c.
- Balthazar - 16 bottles (12 liters). Named after
the Regent of Babylon 539 b.c.
- Nebuchadnezzar - 20 bottles (15 liters). Named after
the king of Babylon 605 b.c.
It's important to note that unlike still wines, which develop
at different rates in their different sized bottles, the size of a
champagne bottle makes little to no difference to the development
of the wine inside. Because of the difficulty
in moving such a large mass for riddling and disgorgement (a full
Nebuchadnezzar weighs over 83 lbs!), most champagne houses mature
their wine in magnums, later transferring the finished product to
the larger bottles. Large or small, your favorite champagne should
taste the same. For festive occasions, nothing beats the
impression of a 'Big Bottle' popping. But think of
the pressure in a Nebu! The task of opening one of these is not
for the faint of heart. Indeed, I suspect this may be a
contributing factor to why the larger sizes are so rare.
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