Wine facts!

Wine bottles are generally 750 ml (75 cl) and not one litre (1,000 ml). Where does this specification come from?

The capacity of a wine bottle was standardized in the 19th century and the craziest explanations for this fact arose, which corresponded to:

The lung capacity of a glassmaker Average consumption in a meal The best capacity to preserve wine Ease of transport None of this.

In reality, it is simply a practical organization with a historical basis:

At that time, the main clients of French wine producers were the English, but they never adopted the same system of measurements as the French.

The English unit of volume was the “imperial gallon,” which was equivalent to 4.54609 liters.

To simplify the conversion calculations, they transported Bordeaux wine in 225-litre barrels, i.e., exactly 50 gallons, corresponding to 300 bottles of 750 ml (75 centilitres).

Since the calculation was easier, they adopted the idea that a barrel = 50 gallons = 300 bottles. In this way, a gallon corresponded to 6 bottles. That is why even today, wine boxes usually contain 6 or 12 bottles.