Question:
When you drink half of a half bottle, is the half bottle half full or half
empty?
Often, many customers ask me, "how do I preserve my wine once I’ve
opened a bottle and drank half of it?" They all say they tried the pump,
the spray, the gas, and many other different contraptions. All I tell them to
do is to buy a half bottle, drink it, clean it, and next time they drink half
of a full bottle, they can pour the remaining wine into the half bottle and
re-cork it. If the half bottle is full, all the air is taken up with wine and
the wine should last a few days longer and still be in good condition. I hope
this sheds light on the age-old conundrum, is the bottle half full or half
empty?
There seems to be some controversy on whether or not wine in half-bottle ages
more quickly than wines in regular 750 ml bottles and large-format bottles
(i.e., magnums, 3- and 6-liters). It would seem to me that wine in a
half-bottle would age more quickly because there is less wine and less space
taken up by the wine. In my opinion, the more wine you have, the longer it
will age. Whether or not this has ever been proven, I do not know, but if
anybody out there has scientific proof of this or has done studies, please
let me know.
There are a number of reasons why winemakers bottle some of their wine in
what are often "pony" bottles or 375 ml bottles (some people call
erroneously call them "splits," but splits are actually half of a
half bottle or 187 ml). The historic reason behind smaller bottle sizes is
that dried-grape wines and botrytized wines, by
their nature, were always low in volume, although high in alcohol. In other
words, when you sell Vin Santo, for example, it is
usually in a half bottle because that amount is sufficient to serve six
persons one glass of wine each. The wine is so concentrated in flavor that a
full 5-ounce glass would be overpowering.
Half-bottles are also appealing to restaurateurs and restaurant-goers because
it allows the customer to try more types of wine during a seating. If two
persons are dining together and one is having fish, the other meat, they can
order two half bottles, one of white, the other red. Or if you want to try
two different wines, the half bottle also solves that problem. Half bottles
are also great for travelers and in Italy, you’ll often see them in
train dining cars, where it is much more convenient and tidy to use smaller
bottle sizes. And, of course, half bottles also solve the age-old problem of
not having a dining companion: if you are dining alone, a half bottle is the
perfect size, three glasses, one for each course of proper meal.
This time of year, half bottles make for perfect holiday gifts: they can be
put under the tree, they can be stuffed into stockings,
and best of all, they are affordable and fun. When you give someone a half
bottle, it's more of an individual gift: the recipient doesn't have to wait
for company to open the gift. It’s a gift just for them.
We just received some new half bottles: these include the single-vineyard
Barolo La Rocca e La Pira
1996 from one of our favorite producers Roagna. I
can't think of a better gift than some 1996 Barolo (in case you've got me on
your holiday gift shopping list). But we also have many other half bottles,
including the traditional-style Chianti and Super Tuscan San Clemente from Travignoli;
Erbaluce from Orsolani; Chianti and Super Tuscans from Carobbio.
So please come down to Vino on Friday and Saturday and taste some of these
wines with me. After all, who should feel guilty about opening a half bottle?
--Charles Scicolone, Wine Director, I Trulli and Vino
Charles would love to hear from you: please email him at charles@vinosite.com.
