There can hardly be a wine imbiber who doesn’t recognise a bottle of Champagne when they see it. It’s so distinctive and is always associated with the fine wine and bubbles it contains. Nowadays, of course, that shape is used not just for the wine produced in Champagne. Sparkling wines from all regions and countries have adopted it and Australian sparkling wine makers have joined those ranks.
A very healthy export business in Australian sparkling wines has grown in recent years. It’s a burgeoning market but with a lot of competition from other exporters. In Italy, the sparkling wine of the decade continues to be Prosecco. Last year, over 600 million bottles were produced, and a not insubstantial number of those were exported. To that add the 300 million bottles produced by champagne, and the size of the market becomes evident.
Almost always to be found in that Champagne shape, Prosecco swells the ranks of what’s available in the sparkling wine section of bottle shops all over the world. It’s a fiercely competitive market and sparkling wine producers must make their mark. Given that the material available to work with – wine, glass and decoration – what is the best and most effective way to achieve this? Won’t be changing the wine, naturally; decoration – once a distinctive label has been found why change it?
So the bottle is all that’s left. There’s no law, written or not, that states all sparkling wines should be in the same shape or colour of bottle. From flutes to collios and others, there’s a whole gamut of shapes out there.
In the end, it’s the bottling line that will dictate your choice. The measurement of diameter that the line will accept is essential, as is the compatibility of other elements. Of course, if the line could be modified economically to accommodate a new shape, even better.
Taking this new direction will result in your sparkling wine, one of high quality, now has the element that will make it more distinctive than it’s neighbours on the shelf, most of which will be wine contained in – dare we say it? – the more common or pedestrian shape of the traditional Champagne bottle.
Pipwin, with its many contacts with prestige European glass producers, can give you access to catalogues with a wide variety of bottle shapes. If your initial choice isn’t available, there are others from which to choose. Minimum orders of container quantities can be quickly placed and efficient and economical shipping and transport means you can have your glass in good time for any bottling you have in your schedule.
Let us know the diameter of your bottling line and whether you’re producing by Methode Champenoise or Prosecco. Then let Pipwin do the groundwork for you by cataloguing the style of bottle that could suit not only the bottling line but the bottom line as well.
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