Wirrra Wirra Church Block 375ml

Why don’t we drink more half bottles?

Why don’t we drink more half bottles?

This is something that has been bugging me for a while now, and came up again when I was in Noosa recently as a solo drinker. 375ml bottles work out as just over one glass of wine per person, which really is the perfect amount for mid week drinking and ideal if you’re having a glass by yourself, and they’re obviously cheaper.

Wirrra Wirra Church Block 375ml
One of the few widely available half bottles, Wirra Wirra’s consistent Church Block.

Yet here in Australia, aside from sweet wines, we just don’t drink half bottles. Nor do we drink enough magnums for that matter either. It’s just 750ml bottles for days, with even cask wine now fading into the background.

But why? Why are we so fixated with one size of our chosen wine storage vessel? It’s not like 750mls are even necessarily more convenient. It just doesn’t make sense. I love halves, largely because I can have a half bottle of white to start and then half red to finish. It’s like entree and main course, but for wine.

Am I alone in wanting more halves? Do you drink half bottles? Or more importantly, would you drink more if you had the option (and they were generally just half as much)?

 

 

Andrew Graham Avatar

Andrew Graham was once voted the 23rd most trusted wine critic on the planet. A WCA Journalism Young Gun now old hack with 25yrs as a buyer, judge, journalist, marketer and too much more.

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20 responses to “Why don’t we drink more half bottles?”

  1. Simon Colwell Avatar
    Simon Colwell

    I drink plenty of half bottles and my wife drinks the other half.

    Reply
    1. Andrew Graham Avatar
      Andrew Graham

      Normally I’d be the same. But with a pregnant fiancée there’s a half empty bottle every time!

      Reply
  2. Paul Avatar
    Paul

    Agree wholeheartedly. Many times in my house am a solo drinker so the half would be perfect. Otherwise two halves would be good because often want to compare two wines but dont want to sit down to two full bottles. The counter to that is to see how the bottle is the second day, as some are much better.

    Reply
  3. Travis Avatar
    Travis

    Suspect availability of interesting halfies in Aus and value compared to the standard bottle (I’ve seen the Wirra halfies at a higher price than the Wirra full) put me off- but I love halfies- especially when they are screwcapped. They are also great for Vintecs and the like where there’s heaps of space where only a halfie will fit. Halfies esp good for dessert wines where it’s hard to find an occasion to split a full bottle. Great conversation Andrew- as always. Best, T.

    Reply
    1. Andrew Graham Avatar
      Andrew Graham

      The price issue can’t be ignored. But definitely much more availability overseas.

      I love halves. More please!

      Reply
  4. Mark Dacey Avatar
    Mark Dacey

    St Hallet Blackall Shiraz in half’s about$15 wonderful

    Reply
  5. Max Avatar
    Max

    Great question Andrew. Some of my go to halves include Rockford Rifle Range, St Hallett Blackwell, Shaw & Smith M3, Curly Flats. I would love to know what other ones people are getting or have seen around.

    Reply
  6. Andrew Avatar
    Andrew

    It’s a great conversation and at Wirra Wirra we definitely see an increase in demand for Church Block halves. Challenge for the customer is the perceived price/value for money vs 750ml. Unfortunately a half bottle doesn’t cost 50% of a 750ml bottle to produce. It’s all in the packaging.The 375ml bottle actually costs us nearly double the 750ml glass and the smaller carton is more expensive than the larger version. It’s all about scale and the volume of half bottles produced for the industry vs 750ml. Church Block fills a nice retail niche though. For restaurants, growth in Coravin should remove some of the requirement for halves. Cheers AK

    Reply
    1. Andrew Graham Avatar
      Andrew Graham

      Thanks for weighing in AK – appreciate the financial perspective!

      Reply
    2. Alex R Avatar
      Alex R

      The packaging is part of it, but also (from my ex-retail days) full size bottles can be bought in quantities that allow for discounts from the wholesalers, whereas half bottles just don’t sell at that kind of level – so that compounds the price issue.

      Reply
  7. Jeremy Pollard Avatar
    Jeremy Pollard

    Looooove half bottles, with Curly Flat (and Williams Crossing) being my go-to. Fabulous for doing mini verticals on a weeknight, or opening on my own when my partner isn’t drinking. I do, however, wonder about the resource cost when it comes to packaging and transport. Does it end up utilising more glass/energy/space to delivery the same volume of wine? The other aspect is cellaring performance — I suspect it would be less consistent than larger formats.

    Reply
  8. robert trease Avatar
    robert trease

    Avoid half bottles-a waste of resources-except in upper end sweet wines.
    I decant 750 ml bottles into 350 or 197 ml screw cap bots-unfortunately decanting means I drink the first 350 ml bot, then later on do the second!.

    Reply
  9. Stuart Phillips Avatar
    Stuart Phillips

    It’s a good question. Unfortunately half bottles seem to be more expensive I am not sure why. I would certainly prefer half bottles especially as buying by the glass is becoming more expensive as well.

    Reply
  10. Mark Smith Avatar
    Mark Smith

    My thoughts exactly, Andrew. However, when I tried to add 500ml bottles to our portfolio at Stefano Lubiana Wines 5 years ago, we found the likely costs – incl longer bottling and packaging times on our scale of production; new labels and bottles; new cartons etc – brought the projected LUC very close to the 750ml mark. We didn’t feel the market was ready for that kind of shock. Nor did we want to provoke accusations were were trying to profiteer from the move – especially as it was going to coincide with the company announcing it was now certified BD. Half-bottles looked like causing us similar grief, tho on a slightly moderated scale, so we pulled the plug on the whole idea.

    Reply
  11. Marc D Avatar
    Marc D

    Most halves to me, do not represent good value compared to the 750ml.
    Then Magnums, omg, gold plated, as compare the cost to the 750ml! x3?
    So, for most of us, there is only one sensible choice.
    Cheers!

    Reply
  12. Colin Avatar
    Colin

    who would’ve thought money would have such an influence in the wine industry……….go figure 😏

    Colin R

    Reply
  13. Tricia Avatar
    Tricia

    I love half bottles. My partner doesn’t drink, and I love a drop of red but have a very low alcohol tolerance, so a half bottle does me for a couple of days. But, as people have pointed out, they’re proportionally more expensive (thanks to Andrew K for explaining some of the reasons why). They’re also hard to come by – most of my local bottle shops don’t stock them. If you’re in Sydney, Summer Hill Wine Shop has the best range of half bottles I’ve seen anywhere. I’d love it if there were more wines available in half bottles, and if more bottle shops stocked them.

    Reply
    1. Simon Colwell Avatar
      Simon Colwell

      When I read this post last week I couldn’t recall seeing half bottles anywhere but when I was in Dan Murphys on Saturday they were everywhere.

      Reply
  14. Andrew Graham Avatar
    Andrew Graham

    Shout out to the Dan Murphys buyers reading out there 🙂

    Reply
  15. Tricia Avatar
    Tricia

    I second that shout out!

    Reply

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