Enthusiasts · formats · ageing
Keeping wine in magnum, jeroboam or imperial: what a large format changes
The same wine ages more slowly and more safely in magnum than in bottle. It doesn't necessarily cost more per litre, but it needs an occasion to match. Compare the price per litre, the number of glasses and the drinking window of each format.
Compare the formats
Enter the prices incl. VAT you have in front of you. Leave blank any format you're not considering.
Why wine ages better in magnum
Under the cork, there is roughly the same small volume of air in a bottle and in a magnum, but twice as much wine in the magnum. The oxygen that makes wine evolve therefore acts more slowly. The large mass of liquid also cushions temperature swings. Result: the same wine, at the same age, seems younger in magnum, and stays at its peak for longer.
Conversely, a half bottle evolves faster: handy for tasting a wine for laying down before opening the bottles, bad for waiting twenty years. The when to open this bottle tool takes the format into account in its dates.
The Bordeaux formats
| Format | Volume | Equivalent to | Glasses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Half bottle | 37.5 cl | ½ bottle | 3 |
| Bottle | 75 cl | 1 bottle | 6 |
| Magnum | 1.5 L | 2 bottles | 12 |
| Double magnum | 3 L | 4 bottles | 24 |
| Jeroboam | 5 L | 6 ⅔ bottles | 40 |
| Imperial | 6 L | 8 bottles | 48 |
Watch the names: in Champagne, a jeroboam holds 3 litres (the Bordeaux double magnum), and 6 litres is called a methuselah. For wedding champagne in magnum, see wedding champagne.
When to choose a large format
- To keep for twenty years or more. The magnum is the cellar format par excellence: it protects great vintages and birth-year wines. See birth wine to keep 18 years.
- For a big table. Twelve glasses of the same wine, served to everyone at once: a magnum for ten or twelve at the table makes an impression six bottles don't.
- To mark a date. A jeroboam or an imperial is kept for a wedding, a milestone birthday, a family celebration. It takes forty guests or more to finish it the same evening.
- Not for a wine to drink young. A simple Bordeaux or a rosé gains nothing from a large format, except the effect on the table.
Does a magnum cost more than two bottles?
Not always. At a wine merchant, a magnum of an everyday wine often costs the price of two bottles, give or take a few euros for the glass and the cork. For sought-after great wines, and on resale, the magnum trades at a premium.
How do you serve a magnum or a jeroboam?
Stood upright the day before, opened one to two hours ahead for a young wine, and poured with two hands, holding the base. A jeroboam is easier to serve after decanting into two or three carafes: see aerate or decant.
How do you store large formats in a cellar?
Lying down, like bottles, but on a flat shelf or in their wooden case: they don't fit in standard racks. The original case also protects from light and makes any resale easier.
Does every wine come in magnum?
Most classified growths and many crus bourgeois put part of each vintage into magnum; larger formats are produced in small quantities and not every year. Ask us: we'll tell you what exists for the wine and year you're looking for.
A magnum from your year, an imperial for a birthday? Ask us for the large formats available, with prices, within 48 working hours.