Hi. Just read the reason that cecil gave for a punt on the bottom of a bottle of wine, that is, to give the impression that you are getting more of the good stuff than you really are.
I work in a winery, and Ive discovered that there is more to it… we put our premium wines in to bottles with a very deep ‘punt’, the reason being that it makes the bottle far stronger than a shallow curve at the bottom. You can see it straight away that the conical shape is designed to better withstand breaking when dropped. I learned this through practical experience…
Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Boards, erth, glad to have you with us.
When you start a thread commenting on one of Cecil’s columns, it’s very helpful to others if you provide a link to the relevant column. In this case, it’s Why do some wine bottles have indented bottoms?
There’s lots of columns out there, and providing the link helps keep readers on the same page, and makes it more convenient for them to know what you’re talking about (so to speak.) No biggie, you’ll know for next time.
Erth, what you’re saying sounds plausible but not quite compelling. I think we can accept that a convex bottom would be impractical and prone to breakage (except perhaps when swaddled in straw like a Chianti bottle). But how is it that a deep punt is inherently of much different strength than a moderate one? Did your practical experience include some side-by-side drop tests?
ahem well, I did do some “testing” on the matter recently. (purely accidental of course). It does seem to me the case that they are stronger, perhaps due to the triangular shape of the punt, although I am not prepared to offer a scientific reason. Had a chat to the winemaker on site, and she was in general agreement… Interestingly I measured the size of the deep punted bottles verses the lightly punted and the size difference was minimal, only 5 mm taller. This seems to challenge the conception that the punt is simply there to make a customer think that they are getting more than is really there, as contested by cecil.
There are many good reasons for the punt. On the bottle breaking point, the bottle needs to be stronger not because of dropping, but because the contents are under pressure. Here’s a quick site:
It does seem to me the case that they are stronger, perhaps due to the triangular shape of the punt, although I am not prepared to offer a scientific reason. Had a chat to the winemaker on site, and she was in general agreement… Interestingly I measured the size of the deep punted bottles verses the lightly punted and the size difference was minimal, only 5 mm taller. This seems to challenge the conception that the punt is simply there to make a customer think that they are getting more than is really there, as contested by cecil.