Bottle Sizes – the world's mandatory bottle sizes

Why 75cl became the global standard for wine and spirits bottles, and the various sizes permitted in different markets today.

The 75cl standard bottle

The global standard bottle size for wines, spirits and liqueurs emerged as 75cl (750ml) due to a combination of influences:

• Before industrial bottle production, bottles were handblown, and 750ml was approximately the volume a glassblower could comfortably produce in one breath.
  
• During the 18th and 19th centuries, Britain was a major importer of French wine, particularly Bordeaux, and six 750ml bottles (4.5 litres) roughly equal one British imperial gallon (4.546 litres). This also helped establish the convention of cases of six or twelve bottles.

However, in 1990 the European Union (EU) introduced a ridiculous piece of legislation that complicated this two-century convention by dictating that spirit and liqueur bottles must be 70cl (with fractional sizes changed accordingly), while wine and soft drink bottles remain 75cl.

EU and USA bottle size legislation

Hence, from 1990 until 2021, EU spirits producers had to produce 70 cl bottles for the EU market and 75cl bottles for export to North America, making it expensive for boutique distillers to export. Obviously, the same applied to North American distillers wanting to make their products available in the EU.

Happily, on 29 December 2020, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), the US federal quango that regulates which container sizes are permitted for wine and spirits sold in the US, published new rules (T.D. TTB-165) permitting 700, 720 and 900ml and 1.8 litres, so a European 700ml bottle can be sold in the US. This was followed by a second final rule, effective 10 January 2025, which added fractional and larger European bottle formats, including the important 500ml.

The 25 authorised fill sizes permitted for prepackaged distilled spirits in the USA, both for bottles and cans (since 10 January 2025):

• 50 ml (nip, mini or airplane bottle)
• 100 ml
• 187 ml
• 200 ml (half pint – descriptive rather than accurate)
• 250 ml
• 331 ml
• 350 ml
• 355 ml
• 375 ml (pint – descriptive rather than accurate)
• 475 ml
• 500 ml
• 570 ml
• 700 ml
• 710 ml
• 720 ml
• 750 ml (standard US bottle, aka fifth)
• 900 ml
• 945 ml (quart)
• 1 litre
• 1.5 litre
• 1.75 litre (handle or half gallon – descriptive rather than accurate)
• 1.8 litre
• 2 litres
• 3 litres
• 3.75 litres

The European Union has just nine permitted nominal fill sizes* (Directive 2007/45/EC): but bottles smaller than 100ml or larger than 2 litres fall outside the specified size range, so miniature and larger format bottles are permitted. A special exemption also permits traditional 720ml and 1,800ml Japanese single-distilled shochu bottle sizes. Despite Brexit, the UK has retained the same bottle size conventions:

• 20 ml (small miniature)
• 50 ml (standard miniature)
• 100 ml* (eighth)
• 200 ml* (quarter, piccolo pony, snipe or split)
• 350 ml* (half bottle)
• 500 ml* (Jennie)
• 700 ml* (standard European spirits bottle)
• 1 litre*
• 1.5 litre* (magnum – equivalent to 2 x 75cl)
• 1.75 litre*
• 2 litres*
• 3 litres (jeroboam – equivalent to 4 x 75cl)

Australia

Australia's most common spirits bottle size is 70cl (700ml), reflecting the European convention rather than the 75cl (750ml) size traditionally favoured in the United States, although both 700ml and 750ml bottles are sold in Australia, alongside smaller and larger formats.

Unlike the European Union, Australia has no equivalent general list of prescribed spirits bottle sizes. Instead, its national trade-measurement legislation focuses on ensuring that the quantity declared on a bottle accurately reflects its contents.

Wine is predominantly sold in 750ml bottles, with 375ml half bottles, 1.5-litre magnums and other larger formats.

Canada

Canada has traditionally used 75cl (750ml) spirits bottles, as in the United States, although the country's liquor distribution system also accommodates other sizes, including the distinctive 1.14-litre bottle, approximately equivalent to 40 imperial fluid ounces.

Unlike the European Union, Canada does not operate a single nationwide list of mandatory spirits bottle sizes equivalent to the EU's nine specified quantities. Provincial liquor authorities have influence over the sizes accepted for distribution and retail sale. For example, British Columbia's Liquor Distribution Branch follows a core-size policy developed with the Canadian Association of Liquor Jurisdictions (CALJ). Its standard sizes for distilled spirits in containers smaller than three litres are:

• 50 ml
• 200 ml
• 375 ml
• 750 ml
• 1.14 litres
• 1.75 litres

For duty-free spirits, the standard core sizes are 1 litre and 1.5 litres.

Wine is regulated differently and Federal Canadian regulations prescribe the following container sizes: 50ml, 100ml, 200ml, 250ml, 375ml, 500ml, 750ml, 1 litre, 1.5 litres, 2 litres, 3 litres and 4 litres. Certain exemptions apply, including wine packaged exclusively for duty-free sale.

China

China's spirits packaging conventions have developed around those for the country's traditional distilled spirit baijiu with the 500ml bottle being the usual format, rather than the 700ml or 750ml bottles commonly associated with Western spirits. China's regulatory system distinguishes between a prepackaged product's declared quantity and any category-specific packaging requirements.

China has national standards specifically addressing baijiu, including GB/T 10346-2023, which covers inspection, marking, packaging, transportation and storage. However, baijiu bottles aren't required to be 500ml, and China doesn't have an EU-style list of permitted spirit bottle sizes.

India

Traditionally 75cl (750ml) bottles are favoured in India rather than the 70cl (700ml) format common in Europe. However, smaller bottle sizes are particularly important in India, where 180ml and 375ml bottles are widely sold. Other formats, including 90ml miniatures, 500ml bottles and 1-litre bottles, are also sold, depending on the state, category and brand.

Unlike the European Union, India does not operate a single nationwide list of mandatory spirits bottle sizes. Alcohol production, distribution and retail sale are subject to state and union territory excise regulations, which can specify permitted bottle capacities and packaging requirements. India's combination of traditional bottle sizes and state-specific excise legislation makes it one of the more complex markets for international spirits producers.

Japan

Japan has distinctive traditional bottle sizes, particularly for sake and shōchū, based on the country's historical liquid-measurement system, the shō (approx. 1.8 litres), rather than European metric conventions. One-tenth of a shō is a gō (approx. 180ml).

These traditional measurements influence Japanese bottle sizes:

• 180ml (one gō, a small sake serving or bottle)
• 300ml (a common small sake bottle)
• 360ml (two gō)
• 720ml (four gō, a widely used sake and shochu bottle)
• 900ml (five gō)
• 1.8 litres (one shō, the traditional large sake and shochu bottle)

New Zealand

New Zealand generally follows similar commercial bottle-size conventions to Australia, with 700ml widely used for spirits and 750ml for wine. However, like Australia, it has no mandatory bottle sizes; instead, Weights and Measures regulate the accuracy of labelling quantities.

New Zealand's wine industry predominantly uses 750ml bottles for domestic and export markets, while smaller and larger formats are also produced.

Wine & Champagne Bottle Sizes

Legally permitted fill sizes and traditional bottle names.

• Eighth = 100 ml
• Quarter (AKA: piccolo pony, snipe or split) = 18.75 cl
• Half bottle EU = 375 ml
• Half litre wine = 500 ml
• bottle = 750 ml
• Quart USA = 946.35 ml
• Litre bottle = 1,000 ml
• Magnum = 1,500 ml (equivalent to 2 x 75 cl)
• Half gallon USA (descriptive rather than accurate) = 1.75L
• Marie Jeanne or Tregnum or Tappit Hen = 2,250 ml (equivalent to 3 x 75 cl)
• Jeroboam = 3,000 ml (equivalent to 4 x 75 cl)
• Four litre USA = 4,000 ml
• Rehoboam EU = 4,500 ml (equivalent to 6 x 75 cl)
• Five litre USA = 5,000 ml
• Methuselah or Imperial = 6,000 ml (equivalent to 8 x 75 cl)
• Seven litre USA = 7,000 ml
• Eight litre USA = 8,000 ml
• Salmanazar or Mordechai = 9,000 ml (equivalent to 12 x 75 cl)
• Ten litre USA = 10,000 ml
• Balthazar = 12,000 ml (equivalent to 16 x 75cl)
• Nebuchadnezzar = 15,000 ml (equivalent to 20 x 75 cl)
• Solomon or Salomon or Melchior = 18,000 ml (equivalent 24 x 75 cl)
• Primat (pronounced 'Pree-mah') or Goliath = 27,000 (equivalent 36 x 75 cl)
• Melchizedek or Midas = 30,000 (equivalent to 40 x 75 cl)