Having invented wine, people immediately thought about how and what to store it in. In ancient times, amphorae and barrels were used for these purposes in Greece and Rome. Wine was served on the table in wide metal or ceramic jugs, shaped more like a modern saucepan, but not a bottle. And it was usually transported in clay vessels or wineskins made from animal skins.

The ancient Egyptians already knew how to make glass. In the Nile Valley, glass vessels were in use already in the second millennium BC. The Romans mastered the technology much later, obviously taking it from the Phoenicians, but they brought it to perfection. They were the first to use natural corks for sealing wines. But for the transportation and storage of wine, until the 17th century, various containers made of clay, earthenware and wood continued to be used everywhere. Apparently, glass products did not seem reliable enough for these purposes.

The first wine bottle similar to the modern one was produced in 1652 by the Englishman Sir Kenelm Digby, but did not patent his invention. The patent was issued by his compatriot John Colnet in 1661. In the second half of the 17th century, industrial production of bottles began in England. In the 18th century, a glass bottle became the most popular container for storing and transporting wine. The reason for this popularity is obvious: glass is chemically neutral, which is ideal for wine. With the spread of glass bottles and natural corks, wine became more reliable, easier to store, and in addition, it continued to develop in bottles and was practically not subject to oxidation.

The first bottles were made of black glass. Later bottles appeared in olive, green, and then brown. At first the bottles were pot-bellied, looking like a large onion, then their shape stretched out and began to resemble a cylinder. Over time, each region of wine production developed its own typical bottle shapes, and each manufacturer put its own mark on them. Since 1894, bottles began to be produced by machine, and the first such bottle was a cognac bottle. The era of the standard has begun.

Wine bottle shapes

The cylindrical shape of most bottles has an obvious practical advantage: they can be stored horizontally in the cellar to allow the wine to mature. This position allows the cork to remain moist, and thus the wine does not come into contact with air.
In the beginning, there were thousands of different shapes of wine bottles. However, several main ones gradually emerged:

Bordeaux bottles

Bordeaux bottles are easily distinguished by their characteristic “hangers”. These are the world's most popular red wine bottles. The bottom of this bottle is slightly concave, which helps prevent sediment from getting into the glass when pouring wine. Therefore, before opening it, the bottle must first be placed on the table vertically so that the sediment sinks to the bottom and settles in the grooves around the bulge. Bordeaux bottles are green (for dry red and white wines) or clear glass (for sweet and some dry white wines). Classic grape varieties for these bottles: cabernet sauvignon, merlot, petit verdot, cabernet franc, sauvignon blanc and semillon.

Burgundy bottles

A bottle of the “Burgundy” type has sloping, unpronounced “shoulders”. It is used for red (usually pinot noir) and white (such as chardonnay) wines. The classic Burgundy bottle is green, however, transparent ones are also occasionally found. This form is traditional for wines from the Côtes du Rhône and the Loire Valley, as well as Beaujolais. In California, these forms are used for Chenin Blanc. In Italy it is used for various wines, such as Barolo. In this case, the color of the glass is very dark, often brown.

Tall flute-type bottles
The “flutes” look like elongated Burgundy ones. They first appeared in Germany - here their shape is compared to a flute or a leg of lamb. These bottles are used for wines made from traditional German grape varieties: Riesling, Sylvaner and Gewürztraminer. In the Rhine region they are brown, on the Mosel they are green. In addition to Germany, these bottles are common in France (Alsace), Austria and Switzerland. All over the world they are used for Rieslings and dessert wines.

Bottles for champagne and sparkling wines

According to legend, the champagne bottle was invented by the monk Dom Perignon. The concave bottom was originally intended for more convenient and economical storage and transportation of bottles: the neck of one bottle was inserted into the bottom of another, thus they were rigidly fixed, which saved space in the box. In addition, such a bottom better distributes the pressure in the bottle - it falls on the walls. The classic bottle for champagne is green; transparent ones are less common. Such bottles should not be left in the sun for a long time, otherwise the taste of the wine may suffer. Therefore, champagne in transparent bottles is often packaged in a box or paper. Green or brown glass protects the wine from harmful ultraviolet rays, which is very important for wines that need to age in the bottle for a long time. The rule is: the darker the glass and the place where the bottle is stored, the better the wine is protected.
The technology for producing sparkling wine using the classic champagne method assumes that at a certain point the so-called secondary fermentation begins in the bottle. Thanks to this, the wine is saturated with carbon dioxide. But at the same time, the internal pressure in the bottle increases, so its walls become especially strong and thick. Otherwise, the glass will not hold up and will burst. In the 19th century, during secondary fermentation, sometimes up to 80% of bottles exploded. Today their number is several times smaller, but wine explosions in the cellar are still not uncommon.

Olga Lepekha, based on materials from foreign publications

We are accustomed to the classic wine bottle...um.. To be honest, we find it somewhat difficult to characterize it - it is so common. But there are producers who went a little further and tried to attract attention to their wine, at least in its appearance.

The bottle generally plays an important role in winemaking. It’s not uncommon for winemakers to complain if they come across a bad batch with defects. Champagne drinkers are especially indignant: bottles with even the slightest speck explode when the champagne begins to ferment.

A bottle can be a calling card for the wines of an entire region, and can also be attributed to certain characteristics. Take Bordeaux, for example. Theirs is a classic bottle with steep shoulders and a dimple at the bottom to allow sediment to collect in the canvas at the base. But Burgundy wines do not have such a “dimple”, since sediment is rare in them.

Well, it’s difficult to discuss particularly sophisticated bottles, since the reason for their appearance was a marketing ploy and nothing else.

An unusual bottle of “grape blood”, according to the label

True, you can often find unusual dekanders. Here are some, for example:

You won’t find such a bottle on sale, as it is rather a business idea. But, you see, it’s not bad. We wouldn't mind having a bottle like this in our home. However, if you try really hard and search, maybe you’ll find one for sale?

This, again, is not a bottle for sale, but an original way of storing or serving wine. But even when empty it can become an interesting piece of furniture.

And for those who can’t decide which wine to drink - white or red, this bottle will be a great option!

Or this option. There is something about this that is vaguely reminiscent of chemistry lessons at school.

In the WineStreet store, not all bottles are standard either:

Wine Villa Grande (Moldova)

Wine “Ice Wine” (Phanagoria, Russia)

I studied at the University of Food Production, and my diploma says: “Engineer with a specialty in fermentation technology and winemaking,” Yulia Arievich told Life. “Once our teacher prepared zucchini wine and treated us to it. It was a white wine with a rather weak pronounced taste. Nevertheless, it made a huge impression. It turns out that wine can be made not only from grapes!

Yulia Arievich’s words are clearly confirmed by culinary forums and news reports. What is wine not made from? Rose hips, sea buckthorn, oranges, old jam, raspberries... Everything ends up in the cookbooks of home-grown winemakers!

Ogorodnoye

You won’t find such drinks in any wine department, only in the cellars and collections of true fans of gardening and winemaking. Russian craftsmen have mastered the preparation of wines from beets (a strong drink similar to port wine), from carrots (similar to dry sherry), from celery (white wine with a specific aroma), from potatoes (white, rich and very strong), as well as from turnips and rutabaga (dry white wines). Winemakers do not hesitate to supplement their masterpieces with dried fruits (prunes, dates, dried apricots), spices (cloves, nutmeg) and honey. One of the chefs discovered by Life made bird cherry wine. Although the aroma was quite pleasant, the result was so tart that even one sip caused a sore throat.

However, leaving a bucket of fruits or vegetables to ferment and later calling the resulting drink wine is perhaps an overly ambitious claim. Only selected options go into industrial production. We'll tell you about them.

Algae wine

Fans of Japanese cuisine would love this drink, because it is prepared using seaweed and goes perfectly with sushi! Laminaria is made from seaweed collected from the Baltic Sea. Marine biologist Inz Linke first came up with such a recipe. According to sommelier reviews, this exhibit has flavor notes of marzipan.

Pomegranate wine

Pomegranate wine is not a drink for everyone. “It’s a typical fruit and berry wine. I didn’t like it,” admitted one of Life’s authors, Polina Trukhanova, who encountered pomegranate wine in Armenia, a country that is one of the trendsetters in the field of pomegranate wines. “Bad plum wines have a similar taste. At the same time, it’s sour.” and sweet, with a very pronounced taste of fermentation. Perhaps I was just unlucky with the manufacturer..."

Meanwhile, those same producers write that the wine has a “pleasantly tart and fragrant aroma of fresh pomegranate,” and the taste is “fruity, sharp, sweetish.” Well, here, apparently, everything is subjective, but we note that pomegranate wine is a rare specimen. People take up its production with reluctance: the fermentation process of this fruit, the pomegranate, is too complicated.

Dandelion wine

Romantic and airy people will surely enjoy light dandelion wine! Moreover, it is glorified in the story of the same name by Ray Bradbury. One of the characters explains in the book that it is it that stores the events that took place at the time when the drink was made: “Dandelion wine. These words themselves are like summer on the tongue. Dandelion wine is summer caught and corked in a bottle.” According to practitioners, when producing this variety, it is extremely important to prevent green petals from getting into the drink. According to them, even one petal can ruin the whole taste (ideally it will be floral-honey). It is extremely difficult to find such wine on sale, but it is still possible. Another literary classic, Leonid Filatov, wrote about where to get the drink in Russia:

"I will be considered a deceiver,

But I'm not lying:

Dandelion wine

They sell it on the corner..."

For real dandelion wine, head to Amazon.

Tomato wine

In Canada, there is a brand called Omerto, which has made a name for itself throughout the world with its tomato wine. It was invented by a certain Pascal Miche. Tomato wine, contrary to logic, is not red, but very white (and other organoleptic properties bear little resemblance to tomato). By the way, this drink impresses not only with its key ingredient, but also with a list of healing properties, including anti-cancer. The fact is that such wine has a very high concentration of lycopene - a fierce fighter against a terrible disease. As for technology, Monsieur Miche used three varieties of tomatoes in his recipe: subarctic, yellow and black cherry tomatoes. The wine is produced over a period of nine months. This is exactly how much the fruit needs to properly compress, ferment and mature.

Feline

Nyan Nyan Noveau (translated as “Meow-meow of the new harvest”) is the real wine for cats. It is sold in Japanese pet stores and is a drink made from Cabernet Franc grapes with the addition of catnip, so that, despite the non-alcoholic nature, the cat will still get drunk and, most likely, will make the holiday universal.

Blue musical

Unusually, this wine is primarily blue, symbolizing innovation and movement. In all other respects, this is a fairly standard drink, based on a mixture of red and white grape varieties. The blue color of the wine, called Gik Live, is colored using anthocyanins - natural components of grape skins and indigo dye. However, there is another unusual point. Manufacturers have prepared several special music playlists for Gik Live use. You should enjoy your drink exclusively while listening to the suggested tracks.

"Vikofe"

“Espresso-cabernet” and “Cappuccino-Chardonnay” - how do you like these combinations? The idea of ​​combining coffee with alcohol is not new, although earlier such cocktails included much stronger drinks. The producers explain that they simply decided to mix “the most popular daytime and the most popular evening drinks.” You will have to drink (drink?) from tin cans.

What will you drink?

We asked the editor-in-chief and publisher of the portal "Grozdi.ru. All about wine" Alexander Militsky about whether it is appropriate to call the above-mentioned drinks wines.

“What is wine is largely a terminological question. In everyday life, it is customary to call any product of natural yeast fermentation of any juice wine (for example, fruit and berry wine, homemade cherry wine, etc.). However, of all the fruits, it is grapes from nature is most suitable for preparing such drinks (it is no coincidence that in many languages ​​the words “wine” and “grape” have the same root). It was from it that the first wines were made back in antiquity,” the expert recalls.

According to Militsky, in many countries (including Russia) there are laws regulating which drinks have the right to be called wine.

“In particular, in Russia, a manufacturer can write the word “wine” on the label only if the product is made only from grapes without adding any other ingredients (the only exception: fortification with rectified alcohol is allowed when preparing special liqueur wines) - explains Life's interlocutor: “Such legislative measures serve to protect the consumer so that he does not stumble, under the guise of natural wine, into a drink to which sugar, citric acid, flavorings, and the like have been added to improve the taste of cheap, low-quality raw materials.”

In Russia, such “improved” products are defined by law as “wine drinks,” which is clearly indicated on the labels. This category is much cheaper compared to natural wines.

“Obviously, due to such regulatory standards, neither tomato wine nor dandelion wine in Russia has the right to be called wine,” Militsky argues logically. “However, this does not mean that drinks made not from grapes, but from other raw materials, necessarily bad, they are just called differently. For example, a drink made from apples is called cider, from pears - poiret, etc. And wine, and cider, and poiret, and any other drink can be good or bad, high-quality and not very much. And what it’s called is a minor matter.”

There are many articles on the topic of reading a wine label. I think those who are seriously interested in wine already know a lot about how to use information on labels. The most difficult thing, of course, is to understand the labels of French classified wines. After all, in each region there are certain requirements for labels that all manufacturers must comply with. But what to do if you have recently become interested in wine and have not yet had time to explore all the regions of France, Italy, Spain or other countries?

First of all, I ask you to pay attention to the bottle that you picked up on the store shelf. The cost of quality wine depends not only on its quality, but it is also important to consider the cost and design of the container (i.e. bottle), cork and capsule (on the neck of the bottle).

If you want to buy white or red wine for preparing a dish for dinner (for example: for a marinade or sauce), dry wine in a “light” bottle will suit you. A “light” bottle is made with thin walls, from pale green, pale brown, blue or completely transparent glass. There is no notch on the bottom. Many people mistakenly consider this recess to be a device for the convenience of pouring wine (that is, they believe that it is a recess for the finger). I want to dissuade you: the recess in the bottom exists for completely different purposes: so that during long-term aging the sediment in the wine collects along the walls of the bottle, which helps prevent cloudiness of the wine when serving and decanting. Typically, table wines or wines not intended for long-term aging are bottled in “light” bottles. They are recommended to be drunk within 1-2 years.

If you plan to treat yourself to elite wine to accompany any gastronomic delights, or to “store” wine in your cellar, you should take wine in a “heavy” bottle. Typically these bottles are made of dark green or dark brown glass. There is a wide variety of bottle shapes, and some of them are regulated by law. The most famous and popular bottles are Bordeaux, Burgundy and Alsatian flute, i.e. "flute" (also regulated by law in Germany). In the picture from left to right: Burgundy bottle, Alsatian flute, Bordeaux bottle.

Pay attention to the traffic jam. If it is a screw cap, then it is most likely a wine from New Zealand, Australia, Austria, Germany or the USA. Most often, wines sealed with a screw cap are recommended to be drunk within 1-3 years. But there are exceptional cases: quite expensive Australian wines are often sealed with a screw cap. This is due to the fact that in Australia, experiments are currently being carried out on aging wines with screw caps and producers are not afraid of such experiments. Although no more than 30 years had passed since the first batch with screw caps placed in the cellars, the experiment showed that the wine was in excellent condition!

The advantage of natural cork made from Portuguese oak bark is that it is able to allow microscopic doses of oxygen to pass through in order for the wine to develop and age. Particular attention should be paid to the cork if you want to purchase a batch of old vintages of a particular wine. First, buy one bottle to taste the wine itself and see how it was stored. The cork will help you with this. You will see: if the cork is dry, it means the wine was stored incorrectly - i.e. in a vertical position. If the cork, on the contrary, is very wet, this should also be feared. It is permissible to wet the cork with wine no more than halfway. For further aging, the cork should be replaced with a new one. By the way, even if there is no label on the bottle, you can judge the quality of the wine by the cork: the longer it is, the better the quality of the wine in front of you.

I won’t talk further about traffic jams; you can read more about this topic in Anton Borovich’s article. I can only add from myself that you should not be afraid of artificial traffic jams, since the content is more important.

Capsule on the neck of a bottle. We rarely pay attention to it. But here the rule is simple: inexpensive wines for every day most often use plastic material to make the capsule. Classified expensive wines always use thick foil capsules. For collectors, albums were even invented to store the upper part of the capsule (disc) with the image of the manufacturer's coat of arms. By the way, there are also display cases for metal caps for champagne and sparkling wines in order to assemble a collection.

Well, now about the label. I will just say a few words about the most popular wines on sale. And I will describe the main inscriptions, which may contain a catch.

First about France.

Bordeaux.

Most consumers buy French wine if it has the word Chateau on it, which means “castle” in French. Sometimes they don’t even remember the name Chateau, but only the inscription on the bottle that it is Bordeaux. So it turns out that a person who has been instructed to buy a good French red comes to the store and asks for a bottle of Bordeaux Chateau. Of course, the seller is confused and tries to explain that Bordeaux is the region of production, and Chateau is just an introductory word to the name.

One little piece of advice: if you can’t remember the name of a wine you tried at a party or in a restaurant, it’s better to take a photo of the label with your phone. This photo will help a salesperson in a store or a sommelier in a restaurant, if not find this wine, then at least find something similar for you.

Although, of course, it is better to choose Bordeaux wines with the names Pauillac, Margaux, Saint-Julien, etc. (you can only find out about this by reading reference material about Bordeaux wines). These words are the names of appellations (that is, smaller territorial units).

The label also indicates where the wine was bottled. By this inscription you can determine the quality of the wine. If the bottle says Mis en bouteille au Chateau... - most often this means that the wine was bottled in the same chateau that is indicated on the label and produced from its own vineyards. If Mis en bouteille par... is indicated, this means that the wine was bottled in another place by a merchant, i.e. a large company that buys grapes from individuals. That is, the quality of grape growing cannot be sufficiently controlled.

You can find out about the grape varieties on the back label (that is, on the back), but only certain grape varieties are allowed to be used for wines from Bordeaux. Also in other regions of France there are specific varieties allowed for classified wines.

Burgundy

Here the Chateau is called by another word – Domaine. And the situation with manufacturers is somewhat different. In Burgundy, for the most part, the leading producers are the merchants. Moreover, each merchant owns some lands and vineyards, but in order to expand the line to a larger assortment, they produce wines from purchased grapes from reliable winegrowers from other areas of Burgundy. When buying Burgundy wine, you should still look into the directory and read about the reputation of the manufacturer and the most successful and interesting wines, as well as harvests. In Burgundy, the vintage year is of great importance, as weather conditions greatly influence the style of the wine.

Alsace

In Alsace, white wines dominate. This is the only region where it is legally regulated to indicate the grape variety on the label. At least this one is simple. But there are also wines from several varieties (mixtures); they have two names: Gentil and Edelzwicker. But most likely, you will not find them on sale in Russia, since these are very uncomplicated, simple wines to accompany local Alsatian cuisine. They must be drunk when young.

In Alsace there is another problem. Most consumers are already familiar with the concept of Grand Cru, which means the elite wines of France. But in Alsace there are as many as 51 Grand Cru vineyards! And not all of the wines made from these vineyards can be considered great. There are also several producers who, as a matter of principle, do not indicate the Grand Cru name on the label, but only use the ancient monastery name Clos for the best historical part of the vineyard, for example: Trimbach produces a wine from the Grand Cru vineyard called Clos St. Hune. This is one of the great Rieslings of Alsace!

But I'll finish in France. It's time to move on to the wines of Italy, Spain and the wines of the New World.

Italy

In Italy you can find interesting, high-quality and expensive wines in almost any category of local classification, be it DOCG - the highest level of classification or IGT - local regional wines. The difference is that the DOCG and DOC categories include wines that have historically been produced in a particular area for decades. You can distinguish DOCG wines by the pink ribbon around the neck of the bottle. But be careful! In this category there are both great wines Brunello di Montalcino, Barolo, Chianti Classico, and quite mediocre ones, for example, the sparkling sweet Asti.

In the IGT category, winemakers have more freedom to experiment, which modern winemakers value so much. As a rule, these experiments usually come down to the use of grape varieties prohibited for a given area (most often international ones, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Chardonnay, etc.). Therefore, such wines lose the right to historical classification.

Spain

The classification of Spanish wines, like in France and Italy, regulates grape varieties for a specific DO or DOCa. But in Spanish wines it is worth paying attention to such inscriptions as Joven, Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva.

All these inscriptions indicate a certain aging for the wine, in ascending order. For example, Joven is the youngest wine, without aging in oak barrels, and Gran Reserva is the most aged (different in different regions), usually at least 5 years (2 years in barrel + 3 in bottle).

Gran Reserva wines in Spain are released only in the best harvest years!

New World

The New World is Chile, New Zealand, USA, South Africa. In these countries there are no strict rules (except for the mandatory indication of alcoholic strength and displacement of the bottle). Usually the grape variety from which the wine is made is indicated, but keep in mind that if the label says Chardonnay, this does not mean that it is 100% there.

In the USA and California, it is allowed to add up to 15% of another grape variety, but only indicate the main one. And in these countries you may not trust the Reserva inscription on the label - this has nothing to do with aging, rather it is a marketing ploy.

Jancis Robinson

One of the world's leading wine critics, author of a dozen books about wine, co-author of an epoch-making work, recipient of the Order of the British Empire, consultant to the wine cellar of Queen Elizabeth II. It, considered one of the most authoritative specialized resources, has published more than a hundred reviews and materials about wines from all over the world.

Avoid heat and light

Do not take a bottle that has been exposed to direct light (including from a display case) or that has been stored near a radiator. The harmful effects of direct light or heat will deprive the wine of its fruitiness and freshness.

Pay attention to where the wine is poured

Give preference to wines bottled as close to the vineyards as possible. Beware of New Zealand wine bottled in the UK. Most wine materials are transported in tanks on cargo ships. Manufacturers,
those who care about quality bottle wine themselves or entrust it to professionals. On French wine labels, pay attention to the inscription “Mis en bouteille au domaine/chateau” - “Bottled at the estate/chateau.”

Give preference to bottles stored horizontally

If the wine is sealed with a natural cork, choose something that has been stored horizontally: the cork remains wet and oxygen does not enter the bottle.

Take a closer look at the level of wine in the neck area

Check the wine level in the neck area. If you place the bottle vertically, there should be no more than two to three centimeters of air above the surface of the wine. Otherwise, it is a sign of too much oxygen in contact with the wine.

Check if there is unnecessary information on the label

Beware of labels with overly detailed descriptions of flavors and food pairing recommendations. This is a sign of aggressive marketing. Personally, I prefer details regarding the specifics of wine production.

Install apps for wine lovers on your smartphone

Feel free to torment sellers

Focus on conscientious wine merchants and do not hesitate to ask for advice. If the advice of one does not suit you, turn to another until you find understanding.