Really cold cellars do indeed help!
I like half bottles. Almost all of my sauternes and ports are in half bottles. In addition I have purchased Bordeaux and Burgundy in half bottles too.
The Burgundy Whites probably develop much faster and they do so even more so in in halves. That is a problem. But the reds are not an issue.
Lastly, I have many German stickies in half bottles.
Yes, I do use the the technique of decanting a full bottle into half immediately upon opening which works too.
Lower temperatures slow the rate of chemical reactions, right David? Otoh, what’s the board wisdom on storing wines too cold.
I suspect the wine’s interaction with oxygen while pouring is modest, because the period of exposure is very short. By contrast, the volume of air in the headspace is relatively small, but the wine is exposed to it constantly over long periods of time. The modest exposure during pouring would nevertheless plausibly explain the slow-ox effect.
Naturally, older wines should be more sensitive to the exposure to air during pouring off; with a mature wine, I would generally try to drink the second half - even sealed in a 375 - within a day or two.
You could also put a blanket of argon in the bottom of an clean, empty 375 ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
, then siphon the wine out of the 750 with a length of hose, drawing it into the very bottom of the half bottle. The wine’s exposure to air with this procedure would be virtually nil.
We did a blind tasting at Ridge recently. The first flight turned out to be 3 formats of the '09 Estate Cabernet. They certainly did show that they were taking 3 different trajectories on aging, with the 375 showing the “most ready” to drink (as in the other two definitely not ready).
Re: pouring half a bottle into a 375 - I used to do it a lot. But with young bottles, they tend to be fine over a couple days or, at least, it’s interesting to see how they evolve. If I want to protect them (often an afterthought) I gas 'em. The real desire was with old wines where oxygen exposure is a major factor necessitating forethought. I found even a gentle transfer introduced enough oxygen that that second half wouldn’t show so well. At some point I’ll try siphoning, which should have far less impact than a gentle pour. (I have some small gauge food safe tubing that should work well.)
I hear you, half bottles are very practical for the consumer, but not economical for the winery or the distribution system. That’s why they’re usually only slightly less than a 750.
I’d still like to see more producers do a wine box. But of course that could only be used for “drink now” wines. Still, many wines are not meant to age…
I like halves and own a bunch. After reading this thread I might have to open them sooner but that’s not a problem in my book!
Cheers,
Doug
I would guess that this is based on the bulk cost related to the fact that more 750’s are sold/bought than 375’s or 1.5L
I would love to find the wines I love in half bottles at a great price. I’m fine with paying $1-$3 more to get them in halves. Unfortunately few of the wines I love are in halves.
Con: there is not enough wine in the bottle. It takes 4 of them to equal what I get in one mag of 07 CdP
I wish the standard bottle became 1l. and halves were 500ml.
I don’t, unless all producers were mandated to produce 500mL bottles as well as 1 L bottles. 1 L is just too much.
Me, too!
As a retailer we had troubles getting half bottles from our distributors, unless they were end of vintage. When we moved to our new location and added the wine bar, half bottles became more available from our distributors and a couple of local wineries. The half bottles are pretty popular in the wine bar and the cigar lounge.
We like having half bottles at the house for those times you just want one glass or just one more glass of wine.
Everyone says half bottles age faster but I haven’t actually seen that happen myself. If so, it’s not a strike against for me since I probably open 99 bottles too early for every one I open too late.
I do like halves but 500ml would be a much more useful small size than 375ml.
I have seen the fast aging. My brother-in-law used to go around to all the restaurants and buy up their old 375s, cheap. Then he’d sell me all the Cabs for $3 to $5.00 a bottle, (for a profit, I’m sure). Most were 69 to 73 vintages and I was getting them in 1979. They were stellar for the first half of the glass, fading through the second half. Some were gone after the first glass. I have had the same vintages of those wines in 750s, properly stored, within the last 10 years and all were excellent for the first half of the bottle and were “starting” to fade towards the end of the bottle. They included Inglenook, Mondavi and BV.
I love 375s, but I never find or own nearly as many as I would like to. As a result, I am reluctant to open the ones that I have, which is ironic and perverse, because the whole attraction of 375s is that they should be easier to open at times when you don’t want a whole bottle.
I have a feeling it will always be that way for most of us, notwithstanding that we all would love in theory to find and own a lot more 375s and be able to use them for all kinds of occasions.
Like the idea of the 375, especially when I only want a glass or two. However, reality gets in the way as they are more expensive, harder to find, and rarely available from the producers I like.
I’m curious what vintners fill the 375mL screwcaps people are using. I shiver at the thought of consuming a 4-pack of Sutter Home just to have some screw cap small format bottles…
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Discussing half bottles of wine and wine cellar inventory directly next to a photo of Ron McKernan seems a little innapropriate.