Wine bottles?!
Wine bottles?
What is the purpose of good wine having the dimple in the bottom of the bottle? Cheap wine has flat bottomed bottles, but quality wine comes in those different bottomed bottles...Why is that???
Answers:
Those dimples are called punts, and I know of several reasons why they are included in wine bottles.
1. They make the bottle stronger, as in structurally stronger.
2. A bottle with a punt is less likely to tip over--a small flaw in the bottom of a flat bottle can make it tip easily.
3. For wines with sediment, the punt makes the sediment settle at the bottom and it sticks together, so you don't have to worry about it all ending up in your glass.
4. Some wines are stored upside down, and it's easier to stack them like that if the bottles are punted.
Those are the things I know. While it is true that more expensive wines tend to be in bottles with punts, some wineries which make crappy wine also use bottles with punts because so many people believe it's a sign of an expensive wine. They can actually charge more for a crappy wine if it's in a punted bottle. Bottles with punts cost more to make, so part of that cost gets passed on to the consumer, but it's minimal, and definitely worth it if you want to drink quality wine.