# Dimples in Wine Bottles **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 8, 2005, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dimples-in-wine-bottles/334591 "2005-12-08T00:33:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dimples-in-wine-bottles/334591/1 "2005-12-08T00:33:49Z")
A simple question: what is the purpose the the “dimple” often found in the bottom of wine bottles? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dimples-in-wine-bottles/334591/2 "2005-12-08T00:35:03Z")
To make it look like you’re getting more wine than you really are. 😃 I think that **may** actually be it, no fooling… ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dimples-in-wine-bottles/334591/3 "2005-12-08T00:36:35Z")
Unca Cecil addresses the purpose of the [dimple](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a990305b.html), properly called a _punt_. ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dimples-in-wine-bottles/334591/4 "2005-12-08T00:56:21Z")
I always thought the aim was to make the bottle more stable when standing on the “punt” end. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dimples-in-wine-bottles/334591/5 "2005-12-08T18:11:14Z")
> [@Little Plastic Ninja](#): > > To make it look like you’re getting more wine than you really are. 😃 > > I think that **may** actually be it, no fooling… Sure, because a 750ml bottle with a punt holds less than a 750ml bottle without a punt. ---
**Author:** ![psycat90](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@psycat90](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psycat90)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dimples-in-wine-bottles/334591/6 "2005-12-08T18:29:06Z")
It’s also called a kick or a kick up, and Cecil’s answer is correct (of course.) It might have served a purpose at one time, but today is really just a marketing decision. Most people expect a higher end wine to be in a bottle with a punt, so most winemakers put their better wines in a bottle with one. It’s not needed and serves no real purpose for still wine bottles. Take a look at any cheaper wine’s bottle (Two Buck Chuck is a perfect example.) The bottom is about as flat as a pancake. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dimples-in-wine-bottles/334591/7 "2005-12-08T18:30:05Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > properly called a _punt_. How’d it end up being called a punt? That usually refers to a [A flat-bottomed boat with square ends](http://machaut.uchicago.edu/?action=search&resource=Webster's&word=punt&quicksearch=on&sourceid=Mozilla-search); from which one may fire a [Punt gun](http://www.thelegendbegins.com/weapons_of_tremors4.html#punt). ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dimples-in-wine-bottles/334591/8 "2005-12-08T19:13:05Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > How’d it end up being called a punt? > That usually refers to a [A flat-bottomed boat with square ends](http://machaut.uchicago.edu/?action=search&resource=Webster's&word=punt&quicksearch=on&sourceid=Mozilla-search); from which one may fire a [Punt gun](http://www.thelegendbegins.com/weapons_of_tremors4.html#punt). ## **punt** ( P ) Pronunciation Key (pnt) n. The indentation in the bottom of a champagne or wine bottle. [Perhaps from punty, iron rod used in glass blowing, probably from French pontil, from pointe, point, from Old French. See point.] From [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) ---
**Author:** ![sciguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@sciguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciguy)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dimples-in-wine-bottles/334591/9 "2005-12-08T19:40:35Z")
An additional question not coverered in Cecil’s response: Concerning bottles of sparkling wine (like Champagne), I had heard that the punt helped strengthen the bottle to prevent bursting from the pressure of the bubbly. True? False? Irrelevent? Some googling brought up these links, [http://www.oakstone-winery.com/oakarticlesold.htm#15](http://www.oakstone-winery.com/oakarticlesold.htm#15) (scroll down a bit for the paragraph on punts): mentions that it was solely a result of hand-blowing manufacturing processes, and was retained for the “classiness”. [http://cheers.libsyn.com/index.php?post\_id=2297](http://cheers.libsyn.com/index.php?post_id=2297) : indicates that the punt did originally provide some stability against bursting, but it’s not technically required for modern glass. ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dimples-in-wine-bottles/334591/10 "2005-12-08T19:48:23Z")
I’ve heard it called a ‘kick’ In addition to the above, waiters use it as a grip to reach across the table when filling your glass.