Wine bottles come in all shapes, sizes and colors, but what is important is how you handle the bottles of wine after you purchase them. If you are not careful you can spoil your wine and ruin the party. If you do it right, however, your wine bottles should be able to hold your wines and their flavor for many years to come.



Wine bottles can be affected by:

* Lights or the sun - Keep your bottles in a brown bag until you get home.

* Temperature - Don't let your wines be exposed to temperatures over 75 degrees farenheit. About 55 degrees is optimal for storage.

* Vibrations - Don't let the wine bottles roll around your car on the way back from the store.

* Oxygen - Keep them sealed.

If you are having a party that is lasting a couple hours you should keep the wine corked between servings. Wine bottles can either be sealed with a traditional cork or screw on top.

Many cheap wine's corks can be of poor quality and can fall apart as you open or reseal the bottle leaving pieces of cork in the wine. So be careful as you open and reseal the wine bottles.

A Little History Of Wine Bottles

In the ancient times, there weren't any wine bottles and wines in those days had to be stored in kegs made out of wood. Shortly after that period wine began to be stored in huge amphorae.

It was only when wine began to be transported, because of its increasing popularity that wines began to be stored in wine bottles which in most cases were quite thick, had a dimple at the bottom of the bottle, and were dark in color.

The early wine bottles were thick to prevent them from easily breaking while being transported and the dimple lent the wine bottles more stability. This made stacking these bottles easier for transportation, and the dark color prevented direct sunlight to affect the wines within.

What About Today's Bottles?

Now-a-days you can get your wine in wine bottles that contain seven hundred fifty milliliters of wine and shapes help identify the wine's type and also where the wines originate from. Some of the more popular wine bottles include:

* Bordeaux

* Burgundy

* Rhone

* Champagne

* Rhine

Most wine bottles are made according to tradition rather than any fixed rules, and some of these wines have been stored for many hundred of years which means that if you know how to properly take care of your wine bottles your wine will taste perfect whenever you are ready to pour it.