Why do Champagne's large-format bottles have biblical names?
No one is exactly sure of the reasons why larger format bottles were given biblical names. But, according to the Champagne expert Francois Bonal, winemakers in Bordeaux had been using the name Jeroboam for the four-bottle size since 1725. (It's presumed they selected Jeroboam, the biblical founder of Israel, who ruled from 931-910 BC because he is referred to as "a man of great worth," as were the larger size bottles). Bonal also explains that a
Champagne medieval poet, Eugene Destuche, mentioned several of these names in his poetry. The
region of Champagne adopted the Jeroboam size and followed suit with larger format bottles developed in the 1940s, continuing the practice of selecting biblical kings and patriarchs.
Half
Bottle
(375 ml)
Bottle
(750
ml)
Magnum
(2 bottles)
Jeroboam
(4 bottles) First king of Israel: 931-910 BC
Rehoboam
(6 bottles) Banned by US and EU regulations
Methuselah
(8 bottles) Biblical patriarch who lived to the age of 969
Salmanazar
(12 bottles) King of Assyria: 859-824 BC
Balthazar
(16 bottles) King of Babylon: 539BC
Nebuchadnezzar
(20 bottles) King of Babylon, 605-562 BC
