In some cases fermentation continues after the wine has been bottled — and so pressure builds up behind the cork. A solid, thicker base, with greater surface area with which to handle the force from the wine, ensures the bottle will not burst from the pressure.
Bottles of Champagne and other sparkling wines have a deep punt. According to traditional winemaking methods, sparkling wine bottles are put upside down. The neck is placed downward, one on top of the other. For still wines, that is to say without bubbles, there is no need for such storage. Though a theory suggest that in the old days punts made it easier to transport and store wine bottles as punts allowed the bottles to be stacked into each other, which reduced how much they move in transit.
Punts do appear to serve many purposes. Perhaps most importantly, they stand out in your mind, and make you curious to learn more about them, which is why you chose to read this article! Personally, I think it adds a nice visual distortion when you finish a bottle and decide to use it as a telescope.
Here are some of the stories that come up when people debate the existence of the wine bottle punt: Settling Imagine the punt as a volcano, not in terms of erupting but in general shape. Integrity When it comes to pressurized wines like Champagne, sparkling, and pet-nat, a good punt can withstand the added intensity of carbon dioxide in a bottle.
Tricks and Trade Pouring from the base of the bottle just looks classy. Early Moderation My favorite story involving how the punt came to be is, like a lot of entertaining folklore, the least supported. Other There are some other, three-legged theories as well.
Cranberry Cocktails Beyond the Cosmopolitan. Welcome to Further Details , a series dedicated to ubiquitous but overlooked elements hidden on your favorite products. This week: the indentation in the bottom of your wine bottle. Order wine from a restaurant and you might notice the sommelier pours you a glass in a distinctive manner. Their thumb is slipped into an indent of the bottom of the bottle, their index and middle fingers supporting the body.
From this encounter, one could infer that the indent on that wine bottle, called a punt, is meant to assist with pouring wine. The origin of the punt goes back to when bottles were made by hand. Glassblowers would use a pontil rod affixed to the bottom of the bottle so the opposite end could be fashioned.
Once the bottle was finished, the removal of the pontil rod resulted in a permanent indentation at the bottom of the bottle. Besides a long, elegant neck, a corked or screw-capped top, and an eye-catching label, what else do you spot? Hint: check the bottom of your bottle.
We singled out the ten that seem most plausible or interesting to us. You be the wine expert: tell us which one you find most likely.
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