The place for all things wine, focused on serious wine discussions.

Champagne bottle brain-teaser

Moderators: Jenise, Robin Garr, David M. Bueker

no avatar
User

Dave Erickson

Rank

Wine guru

Posts

808

Joined

Tue Jun 20, 2006 4:31 pm

Location

Asheville, NC

Champagne bottle brain-teaser

by Dave Erickson » Wed Sep 18, 2013 9:52 am

Somebody asked me this yesterday and it's killin' me.

Jeroboam, Rehoboam, Methuselah, Salmanazar, Balthazar, Nebuchadnezzar, Melchior: Yeah, we know who these guys are. We know the size they're associated with. But whose bright idea was it to use these names? The search engines don't know. Tom Stevenson doesn't know. Jancis doesn't know. Maybe you know?
no avatar
User

Dale Williams

Rank

Compassionate Connoisseur

Posts

11125

Joined

Tue Mar 21, 2006 4:32 pm

Location

Dobbs Ferry, NY (NYC metro)

Re: Champagne bottle brain-teaser

by Dale Williams » Wed Sep 18, 2013 10:42 am

Doesn't look like you'll get a definitive answer. The answer from Bubble Lounge site seems reasonable:

No one is exactly sure of the reasons why larger format bottles were given biblical names. But, according to the Champagne expert Francois Bonal, winemakers in Bordeaux had been using the name Jeroboam for the four-bottle size since 1725. (It's presumed they selected Jeroboam, the biblical founder of Israel who ruled from 931-920 BC because he is referred to as "a man of great worth," as were the larger sized bottles). Bonal also explains that a Champagne Medieval poet, Eugene Destuche, mentioned several of these names in his poetry. The region of Champagne adopted the Jeroboam size and followed suit with larger format bottles developed in the 1940's, continuing the practice of selecting biblical kings and patriarchs.
no avatar
User

Dave Erickson

Rank

Wine guru

Posts

808

Joined

Tue Jun 20, 2006 4:31 pm

Location

Asheville, NC

Re: Champagne bottle brain-teaser

by Dave Erickson » Wed Sep 18, 2013 2:48 pm

Dale Williams wrote:Doesn't look like you'll get a definitive answer. The answer from Bubble Lounge site seems reasonable:

No one is exactly sure of the reasons why larger format bottles were given biblical names. But, according to the Champagne expert Francois Bonal, winemakers in Bordeaux had been using the name Jeroboam for the four-bottle size since 1725. (It's presumed they selected Jeroboam, the biblical founder of Israel who ruled from 931-920 BC because he is referred to as "a man of great worth," as were the larger sized bottles). Bonal also explains that a Champagne Medieval poet, Eugene Destuche, mentioned several of these names in his poetry. The region of Champagne adopted the Jeroboam size and followed suit with larger format bottles developed in the 1940's, continuing the practice of selecting biblical kings and patriarchs.


Yeah, this shows up in a few places, and sounds most plausible. I'm guessing some negociant back in the 1940s who'd read Destuche picked up on the usage of "Jeroboam" and ran with it.
no avatar
User

Victorwine

Rank

Wine guru

Posts

2031

Joined

Thu May 18, 2006 9:51 pm

Re: Champagne bottle brain-teaser

by Victorwine » Wed Sep 18, 2013 5:42 pm

“King Size” bottles named after Kings.

Salute
no avatar
User

Jon Peterson

Rank

The Court Winer

Posts

2981

Joined

Sat Apr 08, 2006 5:53 pm

Location

The Blue Crab State

Re: Champagne bottle brain-teaser

by Jon Peterson » Thu Sep 19, 2013 12:56 pm

Victorwine wrote:“King Size” bottles named after Kings.

Salute


I like that. The simplest is often the "correctist".
no avatar
User

Dale Williams

Rank

Compassionate Connoisseur

Posts

11125

Joined

Tue Mar 21, 2006 4:32 pm

Location

Dobbs Ferry, NY (NYC metro)

Re: Champagne bottle brain-teaser

by Dale Williams » Thu Sep 19, 2013 1:45 pm

Except Methuselah wasn't a king (and neither were Balthazar and Melchior in Bible, the "three kings" as opposed to magi came later)
no avatar
User

Jon Peterson

Rank

The Court Winer

Posts

2981

Joined

Sat Apr 08, 2006 5:53 pm

Location

The Blue Crab State

Re: Champagne bottle brain-teaser

by Jon Peterson » Fri Sep 20, 2013 6:10 pm

Like I said, Dale, the most complicated answer is usually the right answer. :)
no avatar
User

Victorwine

Rank

Wine guru

Posts

2031

Joined

Thu May 18, 2006 9:51 pm

Re: Champagne bottle brain-teaser

by Victorwine » Fri Sep 20, 2013 8:41 pm

If you “live as long” as Methuselah you deserve to be “King”.

Salute

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: AhrefsBot, Amazonbot, SemrushBot and 2 guests

Powered by phpBB ® | phpBB3 Style by KomiDesign