In the wine world, size really does matter, as poor old Jerry Schooler found out last month when Trading Standards threatened to halt production of his award-winning fruit wines and mead. His crime? To sell his drinks in standard 75cl and 37.5cl wine-sized bottles, when, under a new EU directive, they should be classified as liqueurs and sold in 70cl, 50cl or 35cl bottles. Mr Schooler must now lay out £30,000 on a new bottling line or cease trading.

I, too, was reminded of the importance of size recently when I opened a magnum of 2001 Château Talbot. Magnums don’t just look generous and proud, they happen to be the optimum maturation size for fine wines, making them the perfect bottles for a family lunchtime celebration. True, 2001 was not a great claret vintage, with the cabernet sauvignon grape in particular struggling to ripen during a dull September. Ditto Talbot’s place in the St Julien hierarchy, several quality rungs down from the top as a fourth-growth château. Yet, for all that, I reasoned Talbot’s warm, tasty, early maturing, sandalwood and cinnamon-scented spice would have wide family appeal. Not so. Despite perfect storage and a head start in a hot cupboard to remove cellar chill, our 2001 Talbot remained surly and angular throughout lunch.

All of which set me thinking about bottle sizes, bottle variation and drinking windows. Wine merchants are fond of remarking that, because of the vagaries of storage and development, there are no great vintages, only great bottles. As I’ve learnt to my cost, the quality of wines, even from the same case, can vary enormously. Irritatingly, until you pull the cork, there is no way of knowing whether you’re in for a dud or a delight. It’s worth remembering, though, that 37.5cl half bottles are not as reliable as full bottles, hurtling towards middle and old age quicker than the standard 75cl size because there is more oxygen per centilitre of wine, both trapped in the neck of the bottle and slowly entering via the cork. The converse is true for a magnum.

Dinky 25cl bottles only work as try-before-you-buy, but half bottles are great in restaurants and for solo drinkers. Even better are the 50cl options that are popping up increasingly. Slim, stylish and containing 4 decent-sized glasses of wine, 50cl bottles are a practical choice. So bravo to Waitrose for introducing 8 different screw-capped 50cl options, of which my favourite were the lively, leafy, waxy 2006 Ampelidae Chardonnay and the fat, raspberry, herby fruit of the 2006 Ampelidae Gamay, both £4.49 Haut Poitou offerings from the Loire. Posher still are Bouchard Aîné’s buttery, lemony 2007 White Burgundy and ripe, gamey 2006 Red Burgundy, both only £4.99 for 50cl. Or try Louis Bernard’s burly, plummy 2006 Côtes du Rhone for £3.99. They’re not built for keeping, but for drinking.

jane.macquitty@thetimes.co.uk

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