🍷 Bordeaux bottle

The Bordeaux bottle is a glass bottle with straight sides and sharply marked "shoulders" below the neck. It got its name from the Bordeaux region of France, where this shape came to be used for local wines.

The shape is practical. The shoulders work as a trap: when wine is poured from an old bottle, sediment is held back by them and does not reach the glass. Straight sides are easy to lay on their side in crates and cellars, and they store well.

Bordeaux bottles are used for red wines from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, whites from Sauvignon Blanc, and many wines around the world. It has become the most common wine bottle shape. The standard volume is 750 millilitres.

The Bordeaux bottle is distinguished from the Burgundy bottle, whose sides slope and whose shoulders are gentle. Both are wine bottles. The shape does not decide the taste of the wine: it is more a matter of tradition and convenience.