As well as the standard 750ml bottle size found on supermarket and wine merchants shelves, and the useful half-bottle containing 375ml of wine, there are a number of 'large format' bottles, many of which are named after biblical kings. These large format bottles are popular with wine collectors, as the life expectancy of any wine tends to increase in direct proportion to the size of the bottle in which it is stored. This is because the small amount of air in the bottle (between the cork and the wine) and a large amount of wine results in a small air:wine ratio, which seems to favour slow development of the wine when compared with smaller bottles.
The most common sizes of wine bottles are listed below:
| Name |
Volume |
Size |
| Magnum |
1.5 litres |
2 bottles |
| Jéroboam |
3 litres |
4 bottles |
| Rehoboam |
4.5 litres |
6 bottles |
| Methuselah |
6 litres |
8 bottles |
| Salmanazar |
9 litres |
12 bottles |
| Balthazar |
12 litres |
16 bottles |
| Nebuchadnezzar |
15 litres |
20 bottles |
| Solomon |
20 litres |
28 bottles |
| Primat |
27 litres |
36 bottles |
| Name |
Volume |
Size |
| Magnum |
1.5 litres |
2 bottles |
| Marie-Jeanne |
2.25 litres |
3 bottles |
| Double Magnum |
3 litres |
4 bottles |
| Jéroboam |
4.5 litres |
6 bottles |
| Impèriale |
6 litres |
8 bottles |
| Name |
Volume |
Size |
| Magnum |
1.5 litres |
2 bottles |
| Tappit Hen |
2.25 litres |
3 bottles |
| Jéroboam |
3 litres |
4 bottles |
