Wine bottles that are other than the standard size have specific names. Of course, most everyone knows that a 1.5 liter bottle is a magnum. But the rest of the names are a bit hard to remember. We have trouble with that ourselves. So, for our mutual benefit, here is a list of common, and uncommon, bottle sizes and their names (all sizes are listed first in reference to the number of “standard” bottles they equal and then in liters):

Piccolo: 1/4, 0.1875 (Champagne bottles only) Demi, Half or Split: 1/2, 0.325

Standard: 1, 0.750 Magnum: 2, 1.5

Marie Jeanne: 3, 2.25 Double Magnum (also called a Jeroboam for Champagne- and Burgundy-shaped bottles): 4, 3

Jeroboam (Bordeaux-shaped bottles): 6, 4.5

Rehoboam (Champagne- and Burgundy-shaped bottles only): 6, 4.5

Imperial (Bordeaux-shaped bottles): 8, 6

Methuselah (Champagne- and Burgundy-shaped bottles only): 8, 6

Salmanazar (Champagne- and Burgundy-shaped bottles only): 12, 9

Nebuchadnezzar: 20, 15 Melchior: 24, 18

Solomon: 28, 20 (Champagne bottles only)

Sovereign: 33 1/3, 25 (Champagne bottles only)

Primat: 36, 27 (Champagne bottles only) Melchizedek: 40, 30 (Champagne bottles only)

As you can imagine, the larger the bottle, the more unwieldy. They make a great impression for special occasions, but get progressively more difficult to open. Double Magnum is about the largest bottle that a non-expert is likely to feel comfortable pouring.

Large and small bottle sizes do have benefits, but take special handling at the winery. Therefore, they are usually more expensive by volume than a standard bottle.

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