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From: pae@Shasta.STANFORD.EDU (Peter Eichenberger)
Newsgroups: net.wines
Subject: Re: Wine bottle bottoms
Message-ID: <920@Shasta.STANFORD.EDU>
Date: Thu, 16-Oct-86 16:51:43 EDT
Article-I.D.: Shasta.920
Posted: Thu Oct 16 16:51:43 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 21-Oct-86 07:47:16 EDT
References: <93@ritcv.UUCP> <16144@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Reply-To: pae@Shasta.UUCP (Peter Eichenberger)
Organization: Stanford University
Lines: 17
Keywords: Any judge of wine grade

> 	Sorry if this has been brought up before, but I'm new to 
> net.wines. My question: does the depth of the indentation (dish?)
> on the bottom of a bottle of wine have anything to do with the 
> quality of the wine therein?

The depth of the indentation depends upon what the winery orders and is 
willing to pay for.  The quality of the wine in the bottle is not able
to change the shape of the bottle!

The main purpose for the indentation (punt) is so that the sediment from the 
wine (once the bottle has been stood up prior to serving) becomes somewhat
more compact and does not get quite as stirred up when pouring.
One would expect, then, that the depth (or existence) of the punt would
depend upon whether the wine has been filtered, and whether is is intended
to be aged a long time.
It appears that in reality the shape of the bottle depends on either
local custom or on marketing and economic considerations.