Wine Bottle Sizes Guide

There’s a bottle for every occasion.

The sizes, the stories behind their global names (based at kings and other historical figures) and how many glasses of wine are in each bottle.

Split or Piccolo
Size: 187.5 ml.
Holds ¼ standard bottle or 1 glass of wine.

The ideal single-serve bottle, used almost exclusively for sparkling wines.

Half or Demi
Size: 375 ml.
Holds ½ standard bottle or 2.5 glasses of wine.

Half of a standard 750-ml bottle, Ideal to share a healthy glass of something special.

Half-liter or Jennie
Size: 500 ml.
Holds ⅔ standard bottle or 3 glasses of wine.

While there’s no official name, this format is primarily used for Tokaj, Sauternes and several other types of sweet wines.

Standard
Size: 750 ml.
Holds 1 standard bottle or 5 glasses of wine

Old faithful. This standard bottle equates to approximately five 5-ounce glasses of wine.

Liter
Size: 1 L.
Holds 1⅓ standard bottles or 7 glasses of wine.

Have grown in popularity in recent years, particularly with value European wines.

Magnum
Size: 1.5 L.
Holds 2 standard bottles or 10 glasses of wine.

A collector’s choice for cellaring ageworthy reds.

Jeroboam or Double Magnum
Size: 3 L.
Holds 4 standard bottles or 20 glasses of wine.

It’s named for the first biblical king of the northern kingdom of Israel .

Rehoboam (Jeroboam in Bordeaux)
Size: 4.5 L.
Holds 6 standard bottles or 30 glasses of wine.

Another reference to a biblical king. These bottles are used primarily by big Champagne houses for larger quantities of sparkling wine.

Methuselah or Imperial (Bordeaux)
Size: 6 L.
Holds  8 standard bottles or 40 glasses of wine.

The name of this format can refer to either an Imperial gallon or the oldest man in the Bible. A party in a bottle.

Salmanazar
Size: 9 L, or 12 standard bottles or 60 glasses of wine

Named after an Assyrian king, this oversized format houses a full case of wine in a single bottle.

Balthazar
Size: 12 L, or 16 standard bottles or 80 glasses of wine

Balthazar, one of the Three Wise Men, would obviously have been smart enough to present a gift of 16 bottles of wine in one vessel.

Nebuchadnezzar
Size: 15 L, holds 20 standard bottles or 100 glasses of wine

Named for the longest-ruling king of Babylon, the Nebuchadnezzar would also be the bottle of choice for Neo and Morpheus.

Melchior
Size: 18 L.
Holds 24 standard bottles or 120 glasses of wine.

Holding 24 standard bottles (or two cases) of wine You might need some help carrying this down to the cellar.

Solomon
Size: 20 L.
Holds 26 standard bottles or 130 glasses of wine.

Named after the son of King David, rumor has it that Solomon would only enjoy his Cabernet out of this 26-bottle behemoth.

Sovereign
Size: 26 L, or 35 standard bottles or 175 glasses of wine.

A newer entry, Taittinger crafted this gigantic bottle in 1988 for the launch of what was then the world’s largest cruise liner, Sovereign of the Seas.

Primat or Goliath
Size: 27 L, or 36 standard bottles or 180 glasses of wine.

Could a bottle that can hold three cases of wine be called anything else but Goliath?

Melchizedek or Midas
Size: 30 L, or 40 standard bottles or 200 glasses of wine

Source: Marshall Tilden III -winemag.com