The bases of wine bottles are generally indented, however certain wines have deeper indents than others.
We’ve been told that the deeper the indent, the better the quality of wine and from what we’ve seen, this appears to be true.
Is this myth or truth?
In either case, why are the bottles indented at all?
According to the fine people at um, here:
You should have just guessed that Cecil commented on this one.
Why do some wine bottles have indented bottoms?
Moved this one to Comments on Cecil’s Columns.
samclem GQ moderator
*unfortunately, Cecil didn’t answer the “quality” part of your question. I have no doubt you will get an answer.
Technically it’s a myth, but for all intents and purposes, there is truth to it.
Cecil’s answer is partly true, but any somewhat experienced wine buyer should know that all those (standard sized) wine bottles, no matter how tall or short, thin or fat, deep or shallow punt, are 750 ml.
You’ll find all kinds of facts about how the punt strengthens the bottle, and again this is partly true (it definitely does add stability to the bottle, especially while running on a bottling line), but that’s not necessarily why you’ll find a better wine in a bottle with a deeper punt.
Winemakers like to ‘showcase’ their better wines. It’s all marketing. So, a better wine is worthy of better packaging, and then, a heftier price tag.
They’ll go for the expensive, rare, European bottle, the finest grade cork, the best tin capsule with a fancy logo, the nicest looking paper stock, elaborate label design, and so on.
That fancy European bottle (that costs more) usually has a deeper punt, better coloring, less flaws in the glass, etc.
The wine industry is very slowly realizing (after the past couple of years and a major juice glut) that all the fancy packaging isn’t always necessary. So now more than ever you can find a very good wine, in less expensive packaging. When the overall cost of goods comes down, so does the consumers price (think Two Buck Chuck.)
Overall, a nice package might indicate that the wine your buying could be something special (or at least better than average), but it’s definitely not something to base your purchases on.
Grrrr, you’re. And that’s one of my biggest pet peeves, too. :smack:
Check out this website for what looks like a pretty good FAQ on punts.
I think find the “always done them that way” argument to be overused.
Punting occurs on many (if not most) jars and bottles, though to a lesser extent (in both foreign and domestic jars) than wine. Examples include Kraft Dressing, Vietnamese hot sauce, dog yummies (in a plastic jar), spray cans. Plastic Soda bottles have a different indention pattern, than glass (lightly punted) bottles. Moreover most Perfume bottles are punted.
I vote for stability in the fact it exists, and the depth of the punt, allows the wine maker to sell more bottles of less wine.
Best