Is it true that the standard bottle size of 1/5 a gallon (now rounded to 750 ml) was decided upon because (350 years ago) this was the ammount of wine an average man could be expected to drink during dinner?
I don’t know anything about bottle sizes, but I have read that in centuries past, beer, ale, and wine were drunk in larger quantities than today by people of all ages, because they were (a) lower in alcoholic content than today’s versions, and (b) generally healthier than local drinking water supplies.
I have nothing to add other than that the thread title reminded me of a cartoon I saw years ago in the old National Lampoon. A man is sitting at a table in a restaurant and his face is all bloated and purply and vein-y looking, and the waiter standing there says “Frankly, for you sir, I wouldn’t recommend any kind of wine.” 
The origin of the “fifth” for liquor and wine was the same reason they now sell ice cream in a 1 1/2 quart size: it let them hide a price increase.
The fifth was invented solely so that you could still sell liquor at a set price even though the cost had gone up. It used to be sold in quarts, but expenses went up, so they resorted to a smaller bottle. This was sometime just after Prohibition ended (maybe as a response to the Depression).
By the 40s, the fifth was the standard size of liquor and wine and when it came time to go metric, that was the size they tried to come closest to.
Don’t you find, though, that a bottle of wine is the perfect size to share with a friend? And wine-drinking being a social activity, in general, I choose to think that wine is bottled in a size that’s appropriate for two people to drink and enjoy.
Personally, I think a Nebuchadnezzar is a good size to share between friends! 
Nice link. Do you ever get to the Cork and Bottle for their Friday or Wednesday wine tastings? (He asks slyly, noting your location)
No, I do not. I ususally got to Piazza-Discepoli in Glendale, The Wine Depot (also in Glendale, or The Iron Horse Inn (conveniently located in Glendale). I used to run the wine program at The Iron Horse Inn (400+ bottles on the list), I opened Glendale Wines ( a wine store-subsequently sold to Piazza-Discepoli), and a friend of mine owns The Wine Depot. Yep, I’m a cork dork.
I thought that might be the case because of your username. I was always partial to the Cork and Bottle, since I liked Allison who used to run their tastings (she’s now in charge of Jungle Jim’s cheese department). I was fairly unaware of the Glendale stuff although I used to work in Springdale and own a house in Blue Ash. Maybe I’ll check it out next weekend.
Cool, thanks for the great link. Although I was really hopeing for something to help justify my hard-drinking ways.