Any Shrinkflation in the Wine World?

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Any Shrinkflation in the Wine World? - 3/21/2024 2:09:21 PM

agbanker

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A lot of spirits producers are now using 700ml bottles rather than 750ml bottles. That's a 6.667% decrease in volume. Has anyone noticed any wineries adopting this practice?

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RE: Any Shrinkflation in the Wine World? - 3/21/2024 3:19:48 PM

Blue Shorts

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I haven't seen any. Have you?

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RE: Any Shrinkflation in the Wine World? - 3/21/2024 4:32:38 PM

skifree

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Certainly would love to see those very heavy glass bottles shrink some!

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RE: Any Shrinkflation in the Wine World? - 3/21/2024 5:14:42 PM

jmcmchi

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Shrinking the alcohol levels would be nice too

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RE: Any Shrinkflation in the Wine World? - 3/21/2024 10:10:09 PM

recotte

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Good grief, yes, let's use lighter bottles, please!

I may be mistaken, but I believe that in much of the rest of the world, 700ml for spirits is more the norm, not 750ml, so what is shrinkflation for the US consumer may be the producers/exporters/distributors killing two birds with one stone: yes, a way of raising prices without raising prices by charging the same for less, but also standardizing on 700ml for bottle size, which streamlines their bottling, so probably some cost savings and other efficiencies.

Edit: But no, I've seen no evidence of wineries doing this. A lot of sake comes in 720ml bottles, but that has always been the case.

< Message edited by recotte -- 3/21/2024 10:11:20 PM >

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RE: Any Shrinkflation in the Wine World? - 3/22/2024 2:05:41 AM

Echinosum

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Precisely because shrinkflation was a problem from about the late 60s or early 70s, the EU legislated against it.

Claret started to appear in 74cl (740ml) bottles, then 73cl. For a brief while, 73cl was the new normal. Then 72cl and 71cl appeared. Then we got to 70cl. I will say, not everyone was doing this, some fine wine stuck to 75cl. But when I was a student in the early 80s, 70cl had become the norm for cheaper wine. Then I saw a 69cl and a 68cl. I think those were German ausleses. But they started to spread.

And that was when the lawmakers struck, specifying particular bottle sizes that must be used. I think they also had half an eye on recycling bottles, which is easier if you have standard bottles. Several European countries have bottle recycling arrangements, where the bottles are collected, washed and reused without remelting the glass. So you can shrink from 75cl to 50cl, but people can tell the difference instantly for a wine like that. I was given a wine in 50cl, where the bottle was the normal height and shape, just thinner. You might have been deceived. But that was a botrytis-affected dessert wine, and I generally buy such wines in halves anyway.

70cl (700ml) is the normal sized spirits bottle here in Europe.

For reasons I should not mention on this forum, Britain has just passed a law allowing some additional bottle sizes. You can now sell a pint of wine! And a number of other sizes recently not allowed. It is a standard imperial pint of 20 fl oz (568ml). But when wine was sold in pints in the past, it was a specific wine pint which was nearer to a US pint. But who's remembering that? It hasn't caught the public's imagination and I have not seen any wine being sold in pint-sized bottles.

< Message edited by Echinosum -- 3/22/2024 2:20:51 AM >

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RE: Any Shrinkflation in the Wine World? - 3/22/2024 5:29:29 AM

khmark7

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Would be nice to have shrinkflation on some other items. How big do our American vehicles need to be??? Are vehicles in the EU getting to be the size of a tank?

Agree 100% on the wine bottle weight. Ridiculous having those heavy glass bottles, and if given the choice I would avoid them as much as possible.

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RE: Any Shrinkflation in the Wine World? - 3/22/2024 8:00:34 AM

DoubleD1969

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quote:

ORIGINAL: khmark7

Would be nice to have shrinkflation on some other items. How big do our American vehicles need to be???

I detest them. Can't see crap backing out of a parking lot. Can't see when their headlights are directly on the same level as your eyes.

(in reply to khmark7)

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RE: Any Shrinkflation in the Wine World? - 3/22/2024 8:42:07 AM

agbanker

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I completely agree with the decrease in bottle weight and a decrease in alcohol levels. It's difficult to pick up the subtle flavors of Pinot Noir in a wine that is 14.5-15% abv. The same goes for cabernets.

Yesterday I received several shipments and the differences in weight was incredible. One case was Sonoma coast Pinot Noir and one case was WA reds. The pinots weighed 37.6 lbs. the WA reds weighed 46.4 lbs. and they were both packed in the same type of cardboard. It may be that heavy bottles were a suggestion from somebody in marketing. I've never met anybody who was swayed to buy a bottle of wine because it was heavier than another bottle. So get rid of them!

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RE: Any Shrinkflation in the Wine World? - 3/22/2024 8:51:26 AM

Chip Merlot

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I was an early buyer of a boutique Napa cabernet label about 15 years ago. I got a vertical going. about 3 vintages in a row the bottles kept getting larger and heavier, and more tapered from top to bottom. The first vintage was easy to stack and store; the last vintage was almost as bad as a burgundy shape, and huge. Each bottle weighed about 4 pounds, so ~2.5 pounds of glass. I stopped buying because it was getting ridiculous. So, what's the opposite of shrinkflation?

(in reply to agbanker)

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RE: Any Shrinkflation in the Wine World? - 3/22/2024 9:38:18 AM

wineismylife

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quote:

ORIGINAL: DoubleD1969

quote:

ORIGINAL: khmark7

Would be nice to have shrinkflation on some other items. How big do our American vehicles need to be???

I detest them. Can't see crap backing out of a parking lot. Can't see when their headlights are directly on the same level as your eyes.

Don't get me started. Pet peeve. The "truth" to me is trucks in particular, SUVs to a lesser extent, are work vehicles. People need them to haul stuff to and from a job site. Therefore maybe 15-20% of the drivers need a truck or SUV. They don't need them to drive to and from an office, church and back, through the fast food line into which they barely fit, etc... Plus they sure as h$ll don't need to block my vision of three lanes of traffic in front of me for the next mile and a half. GRRrrrr....

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RE: Any Shrinkflation in the Wine World? - 3/22/2024 11:10:00 AM

Pontac

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Echinosum
Claret started to appear in 74cl (740ml) bottles, then 73cl. For a brief while, 73cl was the new normal.

quote:

Claret started to appear in 74cl (740ml) bottles, then 73cl. For a brief while, 73cl was the new normal

I don't recall seeing 74cl but French wines were definitely labelled 73cl in the UK, however French winemakers were not using special bottles just for the UK, the same bottles were labelled 75cl in Europe.

The difference was legal. EEC (later EU) rules stated that the bottle size should be stated and the contents should average that amount. But UK law dating back to the 1200s stated that the amount stated was the minimum allowed and there were severe penalties for short measures (hence the bakers dozen and cottage loaves).

When UK joined EEC our laws were aligned, i.e. UK laws were changed.

Wine bottle sizes were standardised (with a few exceptions) to 75cl.

But before that I recall wine bottled in UK suffered a shrinking bottle, 70cl especially

(in reply to Echinosum)

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RE: Any Shrinkflation in the Wine World? - 3/23/2024 2:25:29 AM

Echinosum

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quote:

ORIGINAL: khmark7
Are vehicles in the EU getting to be the size of a tank?

SUVs are now over 50% of new car sales in Europe. The people have been sold on them. And there are many cars that one would probably say aren't proper SUVs, but are trying to look like them. Even certain models of Mini.

When people say to me, the people are keen to be green, I respond, but look at the cars most of them want to buy. How easy will it be to sell an EV to people who want to buy those?

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RE: Any Shrinkflation in the Wine World? - 3/23/2024 4:51:36 AM

BenG

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From: Australian in Idaho
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Echinosum

quote:

ORIGINAL: khmark7
Are vehicles in the EU getting to be the size of a tank?

SUVs are now over 50% of new car sales in Europe. The people have been sold on them. And there are many cars that one would probably say aren't proper SUVs, but are trying to look like them. Even certain models of Mini.

When people say to me, the people are keen to be green, I respond, but look at the cars most of them want to buy. How easy will it be to sell an EV to people who want to buy those?

Most of the EVs sold in the US are classed as SUVs or the subset SUV-Crossover, so those people should have plenty of choices. We bought an EV which we like a lot. However, there were no practical options (having good range and fast charging speed for the long-distance driving we do) for smaller Prius-size vehicles (Prius was our previous car) so we had to go bigger. This also meant we had to shell out significantly more dollars than we would normally like for a vehicle.

(in reply to Echinosum)

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RE: Any Shrinkflation in the Wine World? - 3/25/2024 5:04:44 AM

MB1991

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Most of you no longer have 2 dogs and kids and it shows in your car choice

Unfortunately, not even a Toyota Highlander is big enough for 2 larger dogs, and a single kid with everything that's needed for a newborn.

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RE: Any Shrinkflation in the Wine World? - 3/25/2024 11:30:56 PM

grafstrb

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quote:

ORIGINAL: recotte
..

I may be mistaken, but I believe that in much of the rest of the world, 700ml for spirits is more the norm, not 750ml, ..

As far as whisky is concerned, this is correct. The 700mL bottle size was recently legalized in the USA. There is upside here: expanded selection.

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Post #: 16