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Why aren't there more half bottles of wine on the market?

Cathy Gowdie

Upside: Some retailers understand not everyone wants to go the full bottle.
Upside: Some retailers understand not everyone wants to go the full bottle.Jennifer Soo

With the health messages we are hearing about alcohol, why is more good wine not available in half bottles? Why do they cost more than half as much as whole ones?

Doing things by halves gets a bad rap, what with the world being full of half-cut halfwits with their trousers at half-mast - not everywhere, but it can seem that way at 4am in Kings Cross or King Street. It is possible this unsavoury spectacle has more to do with over-consumption of bogan-and-Coke than excessive enthusiasm for Coonawarra cabernet or premier cru burgundy, but let us not get bogged down in demographic detail. The sooner people stop fuelling up on single-vineyard pinot noir and getting into fights outside nightclubs, the happier I'll be.

But I digress, and I sympathise.

Half-bottles of wine are an excellent thing. They allow us to open and finish a bottle of freshly opened wine without exceeding daily consumption recommendations, or becoming so intoxicated that we bolt out on to the street to assault passing anti-alcohol lobbyists.

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So why don't we see more half bottles on the market? It's mostly a supply-and-demand thing. Although Australians increasingly live in single-person households, most of us like to drink wine with family or friends. Solo householders find that most wines drink pretty well the next day if the seal has been reapplied overnight. And because we expect to be able to buy decent wine by the glass when we go to all but the most basic eateries, the market for half bottles in restaurants is not what it was 20 years ago.

It's unfortunate a 375ml bottle of wine typically costs more than half as much as a 750ml bottle, but the maths works out much as it does for a two-pack of toilet paper versus a four-pack. Where wine is concerned, the costs of smaller bottles, labels and retooling of bottling lines to cope with different bottle sizes will generally be reflected in the price per bottle.

On the upside, there are some retailers who understand that not everyone wants to go the full bottle. If you're prepared to seek them out - have a look online, if you can - there are many quality wines being done by halves.

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