Wine Bottle Sizes:

While other wine sizes and names exist, the following table includes some of the more common wine bottle sizes and corresponding names. When purchasing fine wine, size is a consideration. For long term aging of very fine wine, larger bottles tend to age more slowly assuming excellent storage conditions. The slower development of the wine is due to the small amount of air in the bottle (between the cork and wine) relative to the larger amount of wine in the bottle. For most people however, the reason to pick a size has more to do with how many people will enjoy the wine when opened!

There is a major consequence when purchasing large format bottles. In older, very rare, and expensive wines, verify the provenance of the wine as carefully as possible. If the bottle was poorly stored or exposed to excessive heat, the wine could be seriously compromised. Large format bottles tend to be produced in much smaller volumes relative to standard size bottles. In general, this is reflected in the price, which will be higher than the standard bottle equivalent.