Many common wine bottle sizes are named for Biblical kings and other historical figures. The quantity liter (litron) was introduced in France in 1795. One liter is slightly more than one U.S. liquid quart. The following are standard and non-standard bottle sizes.
Wine Bottle Sizes
While most people are familiar with the standard 750ml bottle (25.4 ounces), there are actually 28 different wine bottle sizes. From the single serving Piccolo to the gigantic showstopper of the US Sovereign (50 Liters), there is an impressive array of sizes.
Wine Bottle Sizes from smallest to largest:
- Piccolo (aka Pony, Quarter)
- ¼ standard bottle = 1 glass, 187.5 mL
- Chopine
- 1/3 standard bottle = 1 ¼ glass, 250 mL
- Half Clavelin
- 310 mL
- Demi or fillette or split
- half standard bottle = 3 glasses, 375mL
- Tenth or Half
- 375mL
- Jennie (sweet wine)
- ¾ standard bottle = 4 glasses, 500 mL
- Clavelin (french use for vin jaune)
- 21 ounces = 5 glasses, 620 mL
- Standard
- 1 bottle = 25.4 ounces = 6 glasses = 75cl, 750 mL
- Fifth (referred from fifth of a gallon)
- 26 ounces = 6 glasses, 757 mL
- Litre
- 33.8 ounces = 8 glasses, 1 litre (1000 mL)
- Magnum
- 2 standard bottles = 12 glasses, 1.5 litres
- Marie Jeanne (Tappit Hen(port))
- 3 standard bottles = 18 glasses, 2.25 litres
- Double Magnum (sparkling Jeroboam)
- 4 standard bottles = 24 glasses, 3 litres
- Rehoboam or Jeroboam
- 6 standard bottles = 36 glasses, 4.5 litres
- US Jeroboam
- 6.75 standard bottles = 40 glasses, 5 litres
- Imperial
- 8 standard bottles = 48 glasses, 6 litres
- Methuselah
- 8 standard bottles (sparkling wines) = 48 glasses, 6 liters
- Mordechai
- 12 standard bottles = 72 glasses, 9 liters
- Salmanazar (aka Shalmaneser)
- 12 standard bottles = 72 glasses, 9 liters
- Balthazar
- 16 standard bottles = 96 glasses, 12 liters
- Nebuchadnezzar
- 20 standard bottles =120 glasses, 15 liters
- Melchior(aka double Salmanazar)
- 24 standard bottles = 136 glasses, 18 liters
- Solomon
- 26 standard bottles = 156 glasses, 20 liters
- Sovereign
- 33 standard bottles = 196 glasses, 25 liters
- Italian Primato
- 35 standard bottles = 210 glasses, 26.25 liters
- Primat (PREE-mah) or Goliath or Paramount
- 36 bottles = 216 glasses, 27 liters
- Melchizedek
- 40 standard bottles = 240 glasses, 30 liters
- US Sovereign
- 50 standard bottles = 300 glasses, 50 liters
Conversion for Liquid Measurements
1 liter = 1000 milliliters (mL)
0.26 US gallon / 1.05 US quart / 2.11 pint / 33.8 oz
1 standard bottle (75cl)
750mL = 0.2 US gallon / 0.8 US quart / 1.58 pint / 25.35 oz
A standard bottle is 13 ¾ inches high and 3 7/16 inches in diameter.
Fun Facts
- Box wine is commonly 3 liters, comparable to the double magnum size.
- The largest bottle of wine ever, according to the Guinness world record, was 13 ft 8.17 inches tall, 3 ft 11.63 inches in diameter, and was filled with 3,094 liters of wine.
- 5 ounces per glass is the recommended amount per glass in order to protect the aroma of the wine. Fortified Wine is the notable exception where you should only pour 2-3 oz per glass.
