Wine by the half — and the 20

2:50pm Thursday 28th August 2008

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One of the most memorable things I ever saw on a visit to a historic building was the detail in the wine cellar of Queen Mary's magnificent dolls' house at Windsor Castle. I was particularly impressed (and astonished) to read that the tiny bottles - slighter than the nail of my smallest finger - actually contained real wine.

Not just bog standard plonk either but proper vintage Bordeaux. It was the sort of dolls' house that made me wish I'd been less of a Lego child and more of a doll and dresses one.

It's some time since I went to Windsor Castle but those tiny little bottles remain the smallest I have ever seen. They might have looked the part but the contents, whatever was left of them, would be utterly undrinkable. Bottle size plays an extremely important role in the way the contents mature and age and it's important to understand why.

If you were to take two examples of exactly the same wine, the only difference being the size of bottle they come in, it's pretty much a dead cert that the wine from the smaller bottle will have aged more quickly that that from the larger bottle. This is because the ratio of wine to oxygen is greater in a smaller bottle and it is oxygen that hastens the ageing process.

Conversely, the bigger the bottle gets, the slower the ageing. Not great if you are the impatient sort but good news if you want your wine to mature more subtly.

As a pretty small person, I have always been a bit miffed that a 37.5cl bottle is casually referred to as a half bottle' when the bigger boys get some fantastically cool names.

In Bordeaux the biggest bottle you will find is the Impériale, which is the equivalent of six litres, or eight bottles. Exactly the same size in Burgundy and Champagne is referred to as a Methuselah. My personal favourite - just because of the way it sounds - is the Nebuchadnezzar, which is the equivalent of 20 bottles in one mighty bottle.

These giant bottles may look fantastic and I don't doubt that they offer a fantastic tasting experience but they are hardly practical. Magnums (150cl) and Jéroboams (4.5litres) are both manageable and fun. There's something brilliantly decadent and generous about sharing a Magnum with friends and if there's six of you for dinner that's only two glasses each.

We had Champagne in Jéroboam for my sister's wedding. The wine was delicious and their grand size added to the festivities in some style. The only thing I will say was that it took a whole lot longer to chill than I had anticipated and the corks were not the easiest things to remove safely. You try turning a 4.5-litre bottle while keeping a hand on the cork!

But there really is a place for the more modest-sized bottles. I am an enthusiastic champion for the half bottle for a myriad of reasons.

Firstly, I do like the chance to enjoy a different wine with different courses of my meal. When there are just two of you at home, it's a bit indulgent to be opening up two 75cl bottles all the time, but a more modest halfie' is a great compromise.

In a time when we are being urged to consume alcohol more moderately it seems to me that the smaller bottles have an important role to play. I remember a dieting friend telling me that her success hinged not on changing what she ate but simply serving her meals on side plates rather than dinner plates. She dropped a stone in less than eight weeks.

I like the fact that I get to try more wines. Rather than returning to a half-finished bottle the day after the night before, I get to whip open a new exciting wine. Fabulous. And last, but by no means least, when you do get home and feel the need for a glass of something refreshingly pink, white and cool, it's a lot quicker to chill a half.

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