# Bottles - Flat Bottom, or Punted?



## Boatboy24 (Jun 3, 2013)

Just wondering what the consensus is here regarding bottles. Given the choice, would you go with flat bottoms, or punted? Does it matter? If so, why? Thanks!

Jim


----------



## robie (Jun 3, 2013)

The punted bottom bottles are a little harder to clean. If one is using a used bottle, it is important to rinse the bottle right after last pour because the wine can dry up around the punt and become very difficult to remove.

In the end, I refill most any wine bottle, except the screw-top type of course.


----------



## ibglowin (Jun 3, 2013)

Punted are usually of much higher quality but a bottle is a bottle as long as its clean!


----------



## GreginND (Jun 3, 2013)

I'd rather use flat bottomed bottles because they are easier to deal with. But punted bottles seem to give a sense of more classiness. But actually it depends on what I have to work with.


----------



## NashChic (Jun 3, 2013)

I agree that the punted ones are usually higher quality and seen as classier perhaps. I use quite a lot of them because that's mostly what I've been given in the way of used bottles. The biggest problem I have with them is some of them can be a pain to fill because the shape of the bottom interferes with the bottle filler.

But the wine tastes the same in punted or not, so it's all good


----------



## FABulousWines (Jun 3, 2013)

I had a vintner once tell me that punted bottles were used to make it harder to see fine sediment in white wines. Not sure if that is true or not.

At the moment I am using whatever bottles I can get my grubby hands on, but I agree, flat bottoms are much easier to clean and tend to make all bottles the same height as most punted bottles are slightly taller.


----------



## tonyt (Jun 3, 2013)

The deeper the punt the better for me. And yes they are harder to clean AND fill if like me you use a filling want with spring tip. The punted bottles usually are much heavier (thicker) glass. 

I have actually done blind taste test with wine from the same batch bottled in cheap-o flat bottom light green bottles and heavy deeply punted dark bottles. Eleven hundred volunteers tasted my wine. After throwing out the outlier and down right liars the end result was hands down the punted bottles of wine were far superior. The bouquet was wonderful (flat bottle had no aroma of notice), the fruit exploded in your mouth and long luscious tannins. The flat bottom bottle of the same wine was let's say FLAT. So it's punts all the way, you can't argue with statistical analysis as long as you ignore the liars.


----------



## GreginND (Jun 3, 2013)

Now that I have the All in One pump with the bottle filler I no longer have issues with the punt. I really didn't enjoy filling punted bottles with the wand.


----------



## Runningwolf (Jun 3, 2013)

I prefer punted.


----------



## jamesngalveston (Jun 3, 2013)

a 300 degree oven will kill anything in the bottle. let it cool, and use use use


----------



## clight385 (Jun 4, 2013)

From the stand point of the wine, punted or flat bottom makes no difference. The punted bottom causes more stress points in the bottom of the bottle and they need to make that area thicker. The thicker glass is perceived by the customer as high quality, but both will meet the bottling specifications and perform the same. Punted or flat bottom is a personal preference.

TonyT - I suspect the glass color is your smoking gun.

Jamesngalveston – I would not recommend putting wine bottles in an oven. You are getting into the annealing temperature range and could possibly be making your bottles weaker if not cooled properly. Wine bottles are soda lime glass and are never intended to be put in an oven.


----------



## DaveL (Jun 18, 2013)

What about 10 seconds in a microwave? I've been told this sanitizes a cutboard


----------

