About Wine Bottles

About Wine Bottles

We use 5 different types of wine bottles at Batton Hollow Winery.  The choice of which bottle to use for a type of wine is partly tradition, but also has some practical benefits.  The bottle type (shape and color) can enhance the taste, smell, appearance and ageing ability of the wines.   I’ll describe each of the bottle types in the following paragraphs. 

The Bordeaux Bottle:  The Bordeaux bottle is traditionally dark green or gray in color and has high shoulders.  Originally,   Bordeaux style wines had considerable sediment over time, and the high shouldered bottle made it easier to decant the wine and leave behind the sediment.  We use the Bordeaux bottle for our Classic Red wine which is a Bordeaux style blend, made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot (red grapes originally from Bordeaux) and an American hybrid variety called Noiret.   Similarly, we bottle our Seyval Blanc in a Bordeaux bottle because it has some similarity to the Sauvignon Blanc wines of that region.

The Dark Green Burgundy Bottle:  The Burgundy bottle is normally a lighter green or even an antique style greenish/gray color and it has sloping shoulders.  The primary grapes from Burgundy are red, Pinot Noir, and white, Chardonnay.  The Burgundy wines traditionally did not have much sediment, so the sloping shoulders of the bottle made it easier to pour out all of the wine.  We use the green Burgundy bottle for our Rustic Red.  The Rustic Red is similar to a full bodied Pinot Noir (from Burgundy).

The Antique Green Burgundy Bottle:   We use the antique colored Burgundy bottle for our Chardonel – similar to a Chardonnay, and for our Vidal Blanc.

The Riesling Bottle (also called a Hock bottle): Although they originated in France, Riesling grapes are the predominant variety grown in Germany.  The Riesling bottle is usually dark green and is very tall and narrow with sloping shoulders.  It also has a flat bottom since there is seldom any problem with sediment in Rieslings.   

The Port Bottle: Port can come in a variety of different bottles, but the most common is shorter than the Bordeaux bottle with exaggerated shoulders and a short neck.  Port bottles usually come with a replaceable stopper since Port wines are not normally drunk at one sitting (due to the higher alcohol contents).    We use a Port bottle for our Port style wine, Ruby Red.