Applying generally to wines other than Champagne:

Split: 187.5 ml

Half bottle: 375 ml (aka Fillette)

Bottle: 750 ml

Magnum: 1.5 litre 51 (2 bottles)

Marie-Jeanne: 2.25 litres (3 bottles)

Only used for red Bordeaux.

Double Magnum: 3 litres (4 bottles)

Jeroboam: 3-4.5 litres (4-6 bottles)

A flagon of (usually red) wine, used in France. In Bordeaux it contains 4.5 litres, but in Burgundy the measure is 3 litres.

The name refers to the biblical "mighty man of valour", king Jeroboam II, who caused Israel to sin (1 Kings 11, 28 and 1 Kings 14, 16). He reigned during the year of Rome's founding (753BC).

Imperial or Impériale: 6 litres (8 bottles)

Exclusively used in Bordeaux. The same bottle in Burgundy is called Methuselah after the oldest man mentioned in the Bible.

Rehoboam: 9 litres (12 bottles)

1. A biblical character in 2 Chronicles 13, 7. A son of Solomon, Rehoboam became king of Judah in 933BC.

2. Usually this name is used of a double jeroboam of claret from the Bordeaux region. It is never used for bottles of white wine. The same bottle in Champagne or Burgundy is called Salmanazar after the Assyrian monarch Shalmaneser I, who reigned around 1250BC.

3. For reasons unbeknownst to anyone else, Charlotte Brontë apparently used to call a certain kind of clerical hat a rehoboam.

Balthazar: 12 litres (16 bottles)

Used in Bordeaux and Burgundy. Balthazar is the traditional name of one of the Three Wise Men. His name is thought to mean 'King of Treasures'.

Nebuchadnezzar: 15 litres (20 bottles)

Largest bottle used in Champagne, Bordeaux and Burgundy. Named after the greatest king og the Assyrians, mentioned in the Bible several times (i.e. Jeremiah 21 or Daniel 4: 29-33


See also wine bottle sizes.