Saturday, April 4, 2009
Anatomy of the Wine Bottle
Capsule, or foil, made of tin or plastic.
Space between wine and cork is called ullage.
Slope or shoulder varies with bottle style.
Neck label is not always present.
Back label is optional, but often useful.
Style of front label varies regionally and from one producer to another.
Punt is most important for sparkling wine. (A punt- indentation at the base of some bottles- doesn't affect the wine, but indicates that it is expected to be laid down to age.)
Bottle size...although shapes differ, standard wine bottles all have a capacity of 750ml/75cl.