White wine bottles stacked on top of each other
FOOD NEWS
Is There A Purpose For The Indents On The Bottom Of Wine Bottles?
By Alli Neal
Multitude of wine bottles stocked up together in storage.
The indents on the bottom of wine glasses, officially called punts, may only give the bottle a subtle appearance of looking larger and not have a practical use.
Person holding a wine bottle next to a glass of wine
Historically, a glass wine bottle's seams were pushed inside during production to stabilize the bottom and protect hands while pouring. Today, its official purpose is undecided.
Wine bottles stacked together.
One thought is that punts catch the sediment that settles to the bottom, but the bottle's shoulder catches more dregs when the wine is poured correctly.
Waiter holding a bottle of red wine in restaurant.
Some claim the punt reduces the transfer of heat while holding the bottle during service, but the heat from your hand to the bottle won't actually make that much of a difference.
A punted bottle of rose wine
These days, wine bottles are commercially manufactured, so a punt could be more of a signal of quality than a practical part of the bottle.
Wine bottle next to filled wine glass filled with white wine.
Chris Cree, one of only 53 Masters of Wine in the U.S., says, "The indirect impact is that punted bottles are more expensive, so cheap wines are not likely to use them."
Bottom of a wine bottle
A wine producer could certainly save costs on a good bottle of wine by bottling in a non-punted format, implying a tradition of bottling the wine industry takes very seriously.
Wine bottle with red ribbon tied around the neck.
A winery can also take advantage of this fact by putting a wine that isn't quite up to par in a punted bottle, but no one can truly agree on whether the punt has a purpose today.