Anybody plan to scale back bottle size/weight?

Cellar Rats (ITB)
1

Just curious to see if there’s anyone out there that has any plans to scale back the size/weight of their bottles given increased shipping costs, environmental awareness and the general feeling sweeping the nation these days that less is better? Handled some bottles the other day that were like artillery shells and they just seemed so archaic and silly.

Cheers,

Brad

2

Just having more bottles fitting in my racks again would be nice.

3

Agreed. And I am tired of having wineries excuse their high shipping costs with the explanation that their bottles are so heavy. The bottles go from the styro to the cellar and eventually to the recycling bin. I don’t need them to be heavy. Hell, I already bought them sight unseen. Maybe it has an impact at retail, but for these wines that sell only to a mailing list, or sell out at retail on name recognition alone, enough already with the heavy and odd shaped bottles.

4

I am so sick of trying to find spots for Turley bottles in my cellar. Throw in exorbitant shipping costs and I am out for the next mailer. That being said I would love to see some reduction in bottle size and/or weight.

5

We went with a heavier bottle last year, but went back to our regular lighter bottle this year. That seems to be a trend, according to our glass salesperson.

6

Never used a heavy bottle, so “no”.

It’s a win-win if you do, in my book, though, as “friendly” packaging is usually cheaper (lighter bottles, kraft cardboard boxes with black ink rather than the bleached and color-printed kind, etc).

7

We scaled back in 2007 due primarily to our participation in Oregon’s Carbon Neutral Challenge program for wineries. As it turned out, the costs savings were definitely a major side benefit, esp. given the economy.

8

Coincidentally, we just had a glass sales lady show up today, and one of the sample bottles she brought was from their new “green” glass line. I couldn’t believe how light it was.
I don’t know if consumer acceptance is changing much, but some people still have the perception of a heavy bottle being superior and containing higher quality product.

9

I joke when those behemoth bottles comes through our tasting group that ‘finally, some good wine’ has arrived. As far as I can tell, it’s not funny and there is no correlation between bottle size/weight and the quality of the contents therein.

10

I wouldn’t let the pendulum swing all the way in the other direction, either.

I have some glass here left over from a tenant. It is cheap-o, garbage stuff. Light as a feather with no punt and the color is not quite right. It looks, feels, and is, cheap. I wouldn’t put my wine in it.

11

I custom racked my 2,000 bottle cellar to accommodate Turley 1999 bottles. Biggest bottles I had seen at that time. And low and behold, they increased their bottle diamater
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12

Exactly and my experience has been the heavier the bottle, the more egregiously oaked the contents.

13

14

I to have stopped buying Turley (and a couple others) soley due to their bottle shape. i was tired of them not stacking or storing well. A total PITA.

I do like this trend toward smaller and lighter bottles. There is no need for those overgrown ones. And my back thanks those of you who have switched or never used those heavy bottles to begin with.

15

Brad, this is a good question; but like the bottles themselves, it actually gives “weight” to those who bottled in egregrious formats in the first place and are now scaling back to pacify demand, over those who have adhered to classic packaging all along, and go unremarked for doing so.
Wouldn’t a better question be … with thousands of wines at our disposal, why do we buy bottles we hate? [beatoff.gif]

16

How many are dropping off of the SQN mailing list?

17

As I am not on the list so I dont know…but when one is on the SQN list when a wine is offered does it come in a “package” (i.e. 3btls) and in its own OWC? Or does SQN do something like Harlan where there is 3/6-pack OWC’s that are offered out and also single bottles offered out.

18

Every bottle of SQN fits in my racks so I have no issues…

19

SQN could probably put their wine in hollowed-out gourds and people would stay on the list.

20

If I were on the list, you could have my allocation.