Bottle Heft- Do you care?

I’ve got to pick glass/bottle type for some high end Cabernet (~$80/bottle). On one end of the spectrum is the ‘high quality’, literal heavyweight, coming in EMPTY at 1200 grams (~2.6 pounds). On the other end, the ‘cheap Bordeaux glass’ in everyone’s favorite color Champagne Green only weighs 540 grams empty. That difference means 1 case of wine will be 17.5lbs heavier if I want to go with the ‘high quality’ glass.

Do you care what glass your $80 bottle of Cab comes in? Do only winemakers and wine-marketers obsess about bottle weight and look?

I’ve read Dan Berger’s opinion on the subject, but I find he comes across as a little crotchety and nostalgic. I’m partial to lighter glass because I have a bad back, but I really don’t like Champagne Green.

I wish EVERY wine was in the simplest, lightest Bordeaux bottle. So much easier for lifting, storing, handling in every way. I don’t choose wines by the shape of their bottles (or labels, except in one case: Jadot, because it’s so damn ugly). But I get that a lot of people do, and a lot of producers want to try to gain attention for their wine through the packaging appearance.

I’ve heard people in the industry liken Heavy Napa Cab bottles to guys with small you know whats neener

Regular ole bottle size and shape for me. Its what’s in the bottle that matters.

Yes, if you are shipping and paying.

Since you mention a spectrum, I assume you have more choices than just the “cheap Bordeaux” and “heavyweight”. I’ll say the heavyweight is not a favorite of mine. It feels wasteful to throw all that away with every bottle. And very often they fit terribly into a wine fridge (taller, higher shoulder, etc). And as you say, it is heavy to carry/costly to ship.

Of course the very first time I picked one up, I was impressed, and thought, “wow this must be better, it’s the best bottle I’ve held”, but I quickly realized it was not special, and in fact, has the drawbacks mentioned above.

Now, I don’t love the absolute low end, Champagne Green type bottle, but I would definitely recommend that end of the spectrum (esp with regards to weight and size/shape). Much easier/cheaper to impress with a cool/classy label design. Just my two cents.

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The heavier and longer bottles become difficult to load into a wine fridge, this then limits capacity. Spend it on better labels or other packaging

A consumer opinion here: I appreciate when standard bottles fit into standard wine fridge racking.

Heavyweight bottles are fun in large format though.

Most of your target consumers are not on this board. I prefer lighter glass, but I know many wineries have reasons to use the heavy stuff. I still hope you go for the lighter bottles.

Who is your target audience? This board or the more general consumer?

If the latter, I do believe most folks correlate heavier glass with ‘high quality’. There’s no way that The Prisoner or many Orin Swift wines get the top of $$$$ that they do with lighter, simpler glass.

And though they may be difficult to fit into many wine racks, that is not what most consumers are thinking IMHO.

We as a group may disagree with this logic, but I think it’s pretty solid . . .

Cheers.

Exactly. It’s all about marketing.

In offbeat areas of the Old World and many New World regions other than the US, I find there’s a strong correlation between heavy bottles (and deep punts) with spoofification – all the winemaking tricks that win lots of points (very ripe fruit, high extract, heavy oak treatment, higher alcohol) but mask the underlying fruit.

I recently traded for some Ramey cabs and the difference between the standard cab in a normal bottle and a SVD cab in a premium bottle is vast, the premium bottle almost looks like a magnum.

If you have say 200 bottles in a cabinet that’s a 250+ lb difference, for what benefit ?

Heavier bottles are not necessary, just like wax capsules are not necessary. Neither makes the contents of the bottle any better and it just adds inconvenience and extra costs.

The OP mentioned an $80 bottle of Cab. That’s more than twice the price of The Prisoner, so I’m guessing the target market is closer to this board than the consumer who’s picking up a bottle at Safeway to drink tonight. I think if you’re spending that kind of $$, you do care about what’s in the bottle more than the bottle (or label or other packaging) itself. Even in the extreme case, I suspect buyers of Caymus Cab would buy it regardless of the bottle shape or weight - although I admit, the 40th Anniversary label seems to have added something to that bottling.

Just had a box of Realm Fidelio delivered–11 bottles and heavier than most cases. Punt so deep you could raise a child in it. Shipping upcharge anyone?

Put it in a decent bottle that won’t break during shipping and feels good in the hand, but wine doesn’t need to come in mini amphora.

As a collector I like smaller and lighter bottles that fit nicely into storage.

Bigger bottles stand out better on retail shelves with wider bodies and even make it look like you’re getting more wine. They feel serious to hold and if you’re only buying a few for a dinner party or something similar then the bigger bottle would win, all else being equal.

If the bottle is in the “traditional” Bordeaux bottle shape; I’m likely to buy 6 instead of 4 if it is in a larger bottle.

HUGE +1.

First choice- regular bordeaux bottle. You can rack them, you can stack them.

Second choice regular burgundy bottle. Easy to rack, harder to stack.

The ONLY wines that need to be in different bottles than that are champagne, port (I suppose due to tradition), and other size formats than 750ml.

I am fine for label art, but the only art I really care about is in the damn bottle, not the damn bottle itself. It’s not like you are blowing the glass yourself chihuly style anyway.

Since I must lug full cases to the cellar, I do care. Lighter is much better and if you are decanting most of your wines, no one will even know. Cheers!

I simply want a bottle that’s not overtly fragile.

I’ve encountered some bottles that, when hefted, made think they were full when they were nearly empty!