Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
|
Wine (alt.food.wine) Devoted to the discussion of wine and wine-related topics. A place to read and comment about wines, wine and food matching, storage systems, wine paraphernalia, etc. In general, any topic related to wine is valid fodder for the group. |
Reply |
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
|
|||
|
|||
German Wine; Magnum
For the last five days I have been completly fixated on a bottle of German
Riesling in Magnum format. The wine is a Donhoff 2003 Oberhauser Brucke Spatlese for $109 and is only the second German wine that I have ever seen in a magnum format. This things is crazy! It stands like three fet tall, is somwhat falac and peers over any other wine in the store with presence and mistique not unlike the Eiffle Tower. My intsint is to buy one and just cherish the oddity of such a bottle; not to mention a great producer in a highly anticipated vintage. My only hold out is a severe concern for how to store one of these puppies. This is a wine that I would obviouslt wnat to bring out with much adoo many years later when it is mature. The thought of even bring a bottle like that out of the store, onto the NYC subay and past my girlfriend is daunting enough, but what to do with such a monster for a decade? |
|
|||
|
|||
In the US, I seldom have seen German wines, especially the better ones,
in large format bottles. Also I have seldom seen reviews that mention a large format bottle. Although I have many German wines stored, none are in large formats. However 1/2 bottles are very common for some of the better German wines such as BA and TBA. These wines are so rich that a little goes a long way. The best I can tell, large format bottles have never been nearly as popular in Germany for their wines as in France, especially for Bordeaux and Champagne. A large format German wine might age a bit slower than a 750 ml bottle, but probably not enough to get excited about. My mailbox is always full to avoid spam. To contact me, erase from my email address. Then add . I do not check this box every day, so post if you need a quick response. |
|
|||
|
|||
Cwdjrx _ wrote:
> In the US, I seldom have seen German wines, especially the better ones, > in large format bottles. Also I have seldom seen reviews that mention a > large format bottle. Although I have many German wines stored, none are > in large formats. However 1/2 bottles are very common for some of the > better German wines such as BA and TBA. These wines are so rich that a > little goes a long way. The best I can tell, large format bottles have > never been nearly as popular in Germany for their wines as in France, > especially for Bordeaux and Champagne. A large format German wine might > age a bit slower than a 750 ml bottle, but probably not enough to get > excited about. Liter size bottles of German wine used to be very common here and they caused some confusion because of the color change on the Mozels. Are the half size German wine bottles 350ml or 375ml? |
|
|||
|
|||
Cwdjrx _ wrote:
> In the US, I seldom have seen German wines, especially the better ones, > in large format bottles. Also I have seldom seen reviews that mention a > large format bottle. Although I have many German wines stored, none are > in large formats. However 1/2 bottles are very common for some of the > better German wines such as BA and TBA. These wines are so rich that a > little goes a long way. The best I can tell, large format bottles have > never been nearly as popular in Germany for their wines as in France, > especially for Bordeaux and Champagne. A large format German wine might > age a bit slower than a 750 ml bottle, but probably not enough to get > excited about. Liter size bottles of German wine used to be very common here and they caused some confusion because of the color change on the Mozels. Are the half size German wine bottles 350ml or 375ml? |
|
|||
|
|||
Before 1971 German bottle size varied quite a bit from region to
region. The full bottles I have stored since the 1971 vintage give 700 ml on the label printed in Germany. I have only checked a few. However a 1/2 bottle of 1976 Bernkasteer Doctor TBA from Thanish gives 350 ml on the main label printed in Germany. But a 1/2 bottle of Wallh=E4user M=FChlenberg Grauer Burgunder Eiswein from Prinz zu Salm-Dalberg's Schloss Wallhausen gives 375 ml on the German printed label. I have not had time to pull enough bottles to see whch is most common, or perhaps one of the labels has a typo. In any event, I can not get very excited about a variation of only 5 ml. Yes, some German and other wines often were seen in L sized botles in the US in the past. The ones I saw were mostly low end wines. I consider a L bottle as a single bottle size, but some might consider it a large format. Then I remember some very fancy bottles with very common wines that many bought for the bottle. I still have a gallon-sized botle of Frescobaldi Chianti(vintage tag unreadable) that is a big bulb with a very long neck and stands 4 feet tall. It at least predates the time when labels had to convert from English units to metric units for the US market. I have seen low end wines from Italy in bottles the shape of a grape cluster. When you get into very old wines, there is nearly a continuous spectrum of bottle sizes. Even many close-by wine regions used diferent bottle sizes in the past. My mailbox is always full to avoid spam. To contact me, erase from my email address. Then add . I do not check this box every day, so post if you need a quick response. |
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|||
> Italian
>pre-standard bottles are 73 ml. I believe that some Bordeaux bottles also used this size. |
|
|||
|
|||
> Italian
>pre-standard bottles are 73 ml. I believe that some Bordeaux bottles also used this size. |
|
|||
|
|||
Bill Spohn > wrote:
> > Italian > >pre-standard bottles are 73 ml. > > I believe that some Bordeaux bottles also used this size. Yes. From an unrepresentative sample of Bdx bottles and rescued labels: 1975: 73cl, 1982: 75cl. So the change seems to have happened somewhere between 1976 and 1981. |
|
|||
|
|||
Here are some more numbers for bottle sizes taken directly from my wine
bottles. The 1976 Schloss Vollrads TBA is 700 ml while the1979 Oestricher Lenchen Beerenauslese Eiswein from the Deinhard estate is 750 ml, both on the label and on the extreme lower side of the bottle(not bottom). Quinta de Serrado Bual 1827 is 750ml. Fonseca's Torna-Viagem Setubal is 500 ml., while a full bottle of their 25yr old Setubal and also their 1934 vintage is 750 ml. Monimpex Tokaji Aszu Esszencia 1957 is 500 ml. as well as a Tokaji Wine Trust Co. 1983 5 P. A half bottle of 1967 Yquem is 375 ml on the glass of the bottle along the bottom side(not thebottom), while the importer's add on lablel gives it as 360 ml (12 Fl. Oz). Either the importer label is a mistake, or it more accurately reflects the volume of wine in the bottle rather than the maximum capacity of the bottle. Many very old bottles were hand blown and as a result varied somewhat in size. Also many older bottles do not contain a size mark on the glass. Heaven knows what is the size of my Constatia from either 1791s or 1809 - close to a half bottle from the looks of the bottle. In addition some wines sold in English speaking countries in the past were sold in English units. The one gallon bottle of old Chianti I mentioned in my first post is such an example. And then there was the "fifth", or 1/5 gallon that was used before metric units were used in the US. Also there are some differences in the US and British volume measurements. I did make a typo in the difference between a 375 and 350 ml bottle whic shold be apparent to anyone reading my post. I believe I may have sme more informaton on bottle sizes in old books in the attic. I have wasted enough time on thismatter, but I may try to see what else I can dig up. My mailbox is always full to avoid spam. To contact me, erase from my email address. Then add . I do not check this box every day, so post if you need a quick response. |
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|||
Both the Beaulieu 1969 and 1971 Private Reserve Caberet Sauvignons have
4/5 quart on the glass at the bottom of the bottle side. This is an US quart and not a British Imperial quart which is somewhat larger. This size of bottle was known as a "fifth" in the US. By 1974 a Charles Krug Private Selection Cabernet Sauvignon has 750 ml(25.4 Fl. Oz.) on the glass. A 1974 Beaulieu Private Reserve CS in haf bottle has 375 ml(12.7 Fl. Oz.) on the glass. The early 70s seem to have been a transition time for conversion from English to metric units for wine bottles in the US. Fifths were so common at one time that there were jokes about them. A cartoon from the 1950's era shows a drunk in a grocery store asking for a fifth of milk. Of course milk was sold in quarts and gallons - not fifths. My mailbox is always full to avoid spam. To contact me, erase from my email address. Then add . I do not check this box every day, so post if you need a quick response. |
|
|||
|
|||
snip
> Fifths were so common at one time that there were jokes about them. A > cartoon from the 1950's era shows a drunk in a grocery store asking for > a fifth of milk. Of course milk was sold in quarts and gallons - not > fifths. I like the one about Baptists ( I am sorry if this offends anyone), but the saying goes Where there is a fourth (Man, Woman, 2 children) there is always a fifth. Walter |
|
|||
|
|||
The 1967 Collares from D. J. Silva has a capacity of 650 ml (22 Fl. Oz.)
according to the Portugese label. There are some code markings on the glass at the bottom of the bottle, but no capacity. It would appear that there is quite a range in bottle sizes in my cellar even not considering many old bottles that have no markings to indicate a capacity. Another consideration is that many Bordeaux and other wines were bottled in England, Belgium, and elsewhere in the past. I do not have any such bottles. However it would not surprise me if some of the old English bottled wines use English Imperial volume, and that bottle sizes might or might not be the same as French bottled wines of that era. My mailbox is always full to avoid spam. To contact me, erase from my email address. Then add . I do not check this box every day, so post if you need a quick response. |
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|||
Some mention has been made of Champagne. Patrick Forbes published a book
called Champagne in GB with a coyright of 1967. He gives bottle sizes that have been used for Champagne as: quarter-bottle: 6 1/2 fluid ozs; half-bottle: 13 fluid ozs; imperial pint: 19 1/2 fluid ozs; bottle: 26 fluid ozs; magnum: 2 bottles; double magnum or jeroboam: 4 bottles; triple magnum or rehoboam: 6 bottles; quadruple magnum or methuselah: 8 bottles; salmanezah: 12 bottles; balthazar: 16 bottles; nebuchadnezzar: 20 bottles; Some of the above bottle sizes were no longer on the market at the time of writing this book. I assume he uses British ounces. If so, you multiply by 28.41225 to get ml. That would be 739 ml for a single bottle. There is a remote chance that the ozs used are US, because although printed in GB, the book was by Reynal and Company in assocition with Willam Morrow and Company of New York who could have insisted on US ozs for the book distributed in the US. You multiply US ozs by 29.572702 to get ml which would give 769 ml in a bottle. I believe the imperial pint size bottle many also have sometimes been used for Port in GB in the distant past. I note that a few German wines now are being offered in 500 ml bottles. A catalog from Brown Derby that I just received listed two auslese wines in the 500 ml size in the $US50 range, so we are not speaking of cheap wine. My mailbox is always full to avoid spam. To contact me, erase from my email address. Then add . I do not check this box every day, so post if you need a quick response. |
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|||
A nice site to see about bottle sizes is the one from
Robèrt Koopman see: http://home.tiscali.nl/~koopmaro/flessen.htm in Dutch but I'm sure if you want,. that he is willing to translate if you ask him to greetings Jenny ------------------------------------------------- Bonum Vinum Laetificat Cor!!!! ------------------------------------------------- |
|
|||
|
|||
"Cwdjrx _" > skrev i melding ... > I note that a few German wines now are being offered in 500 ml bottles. > A catalog from Brown Derby that I just received listed two auslese wines > in the 500 ml size in the $US50 range, so we are not speaking of cheap > wine. > Not just a few. It has been a tendency for some years that Ausleses, especially the best ones, are being sold in 500ml bottles. Anders |
|
|||
|
|||
"Jenny" > skrev i melding ... >A nice site to see about bottle sizes is the one from > Robèrt Koopman > see: > http://home.tiscali.nl/~koopmaro/flessen.htm > > in Dutch but I'm sure if you want,. that he is willing to translate if you > ask him to > No translation needed, very clear, thank you. Anders |
|
|||
|
|||
Jaybert41 wrote: > For the last five days I have been completly fixated on a bottle of German > Riesling in Magnum format. The wine is a Donhoff 2003 Oberhauser Brucke > Spatlese for $109 and is only the second German wine that I have ever seen in a > magnum format. This things is crazy! It stands like three fet tall, is > somwhat falac and peers over any other wine in the store with presence and > mistique not unlike the Eiffle Tower. > My intsint is to buy one and just cherish the oddity of such a bottle; not to > mention a great producer in a highly anticipated vintage. My only hold out is > a severe concern for how to store one of these puppies. This is a wine that I > would obviouslt wnat to bring out with much adoo many years later when it is > mature. The thought of even bring a bottle like that out of the store, onto > the NYC subay and past my girlfriend is daunting enough, but what to do with > such a monster for a decade? The matter of bottle sizes has been discussed quite extensively in the thread, but let me wager a comment on the wine, specifically on your plan to lay it for a decade before drinking. I for one - without having tasted the wine that you mention, and in spite of my general high regard for the region Nahe, the vinyard Oberhaeuser Bruecke and the producer Hermann Donnhoff - I would not necessarily plan on keeping a Sp=E4tlese for ten years before enjoying it. A general question on experts of German wines: would not one expect a higher production of Sp=E4tlese and Auslese wines in a warm year like 2003? Should this not push down the prices of these wines (from the "common or garden" vineries, if not for wines from the likes of Hermann Donnhoff, Kuenstler or Moenchhof)? Cheers |
|
|||
|
|||
I found some other bottle sizes in the Containers and Measures section
of Lichine's Encyclopedia, 3'rd ed., 1981. Alsace: 360 and 720 ml; Beaujolais: 'Pot' 500 ml; Bordeaux: Marie-Jeanne - 2.50 L; Port: Tappit Hen - 2.27 L; Sherry: 378.6, 757.5 ml; U.S.: tenth - 378.6 ml; U.S.: fifth - 757.2 ml; U.S.: magnum - 1.51 L Lichine gives the following note: "NOTE: Basic metric capacities, and in some cases ounces, upon which most figures in this table are based, are those fixed by law. Actual contents will almost always vary because of differences in corking space." Lichine also gives both U.S. and British ounces in this table as well as both U.S. and British volumes in gallon-quart-pint-ounce format. The word ounce may cause some confusion for those who have only used metric measures. First, there are ounces used to measure weight and fluid ounces to measure volume. Then there are both U.S. and British versions of each of these that are somewhat different. The two German wines offered in 500 ml format that I mentioned a Forster Kirchens=FCck Riesling Auslese 2002, Eugen M=FCller - 500 ml. R=FCdesheimer Burg Rottland Riesling Auslese 2002, Josef Leitz. My mailbox is always full to avoid spam. To contact me, erase from my email address. Then add . I do not check this box every day, so post if you need a quick response. |
|
|||
|
|||
>I for one - without having tasted the wine that you mention, and in
>spite of my general high regard for the region Nahe, the vinyard >Oberhaeuser Bruecke and the producer Hermann Donnhoff - I would not >necessarily plan on keeping a Sp=E4tlese for ten years before enjoying >it. While my experience with aged Rieslings in minimal, I have enjoyed several 10+ year old Kabinett and Spatlese wines. I am still learning abotu what I like, but I wouldnt have thought twice about putting one down for a decade before touching it. |
|
|||
|
|||
"Jaybert41" > skrev i melding ... > > While my experience with aged Rieslings in minimal, I have enjoyed several > 10+ > year old Kabinett and Spatlese wines. I am still learning abotu what I > like, > but I wouldnt have thought twice about putting one down for a decade > before > touching it. > Prices have not risen for 2003 Spätlese/Auslese qualities from these "garden" wineries (and you find some very good ones at this level) Going price for good Auslese will be 10-20 Euros, Spätleses 6-15Euros. When you talk of 10 years storage - that is for sweet wine. Trocken almost never goes beyond 3-5 years, halbtrocken 5-8 years at the most. 10 years for a good Spätlese is quite feasible and certainly so for an Auslese, but bewa The wine changes - and if you love the wonderful fruity floral honeyed sweetness with zippy acidity you'll be disappointed over a 10 year old one. Petrol, gasoline, mango, lichees may not be to your liking... especially when most of the lively acid is gone :-) There certainly is a limit, I've had a 37 year old Mosel that was D.O.A - more dead than a dodo. Others from minor vintners have been definitely unimpressive at 10 or 15 years of age. But, that may just be me... Anders |
Reply |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
German wine for German style meal | General Cooking | |||
German wine for German style meal | General Cooking | |||
German wine for German style meal | General Cooking | |||
German Wine in Magnum (the intended message; ignore duplicate) | Wine | |||
German Wine | Wine |