<p>They are not.</p>

<p>I looked through my collection of wine labels (about 50 from around the globe) - many of them are 0,75l, many are 75cl and some are 750ml. I couldn't determine any dependence of volume unit on country or region or type of the wine. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-14T13:52:00.310Z
2019-03-14T13:52:00.310Z
Altbier is not Old Beer
<p>Copied from: <a href="https://www.thefrenchcellar.sg/why-is-75cl-the-standard-wine-bottle-size/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Why is 75cl the standard wine bottle size?</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The volume of 75cl was standardized in the 19th century. At that time,
  the biggest clients for the French wines were the British.</p>
  
  <p>The close neighbors do not use the metric system and used to order
  wine in “imperial gallon”. One gallon is about 4.546 liters.</p>
  
  <p>Barrels were used to transport wine at that time. One barrel is 50
  gallons, about 225 liters. A real nightmare for conversion! So to ease
  the calculation, the wine makers from Bordeaux decided that 1 barrel
  would be 300 bottles of wine instead of 225.</p>
  
  <p>Do the math and you’ll find that it makes a bottle at 75cl! One gallon
  is 6 bottles, and since then, that’s the reason why we still order
  wine in packs of 6 or 12 bottles. </p>
</blockquote>

<p></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-24T10:25:22.270Z
My question was regarding the use of centiliters rather than liters or milliliters. Thanks for the history background though.
Kuba Szymanowski
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-24T12:44:02.217Z
@Mira Welcome to StackExchange!  Correct attribution is very important here.  When you're referencing a source, you need to make sure it's correctly quoted and linked.  Here's more detail from [our Help Center topic on the subject](https://alcohol.stackexchange.com/help/referencing).
Xander
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-24T06:59:03.257Z
2019-06-24T12:41:40.530Z
2019-06-24T12:41:40.530Z
Mira
<p><strong>Why are wine bottle volumes in centiliters not in liters or milliliters?</strong></p>

<p>Part of the answer is in the marketing system used in a particular country or region and part of it would be about the size of bottle being purchased.</p>

<p>In Canada and the USA, in a standard bottle of wine, there are 750 millilitres (ml), 75 centilitres (cl) or 0.75 litres (l). Wine bottles aren't quite litre-size, but the average wine bottle will contain 750ml of wine. </p>

<p>I see only 750ml bottles in the area where I live. I am fine with that. A bottle of wine marketed as 0.75 liters seems less appealing than wine sold in a bottle marketed as 750ml. And one marketed with a 75cl label seems less traditional in this neck of the world and may not sell as good as one sold with 750ml marked on the label. It is sold in a more positive light so to speak. It is all marketing.</p>

<p>I am sure there are other reasons, but take a look at <a href="https://www.diffordsguide.com/encyclopedia/235/bws/bottle-sizes-the-worlds-mandatory-bottle-sizes" rel="noreferrer">Difford's Guide</a> to mandatory bottle sizes around the world. It is an eye opener to say the least.</p>

<p>However there is more to the Subject:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>When glass bottles become popular though, it is surprising to see that both continental Europe and Great Britain had glass containers of a similar size. The British had an official glass-container size of a fifth of their Imperial (UK) Gallon at around 900ml, while other Europeans' bottles gravitated around 700ml to 800ml. The US officially adopted the 750ml bottle as a standard in 1979, as a metric equivalent to the fifth of a US Gallon (757ml). - <a href="https://www.vivino.com/wine-news/a-simple-guide-to-wine-bottle-sizes/standard" rel="noreferrer">Standard Bottle</a></p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_measurements" rel="noreferrer">Alcohol measurement</a> in bottles has undergone several revisions in the last few decades as <a href="https://www.diffordsguide.com/encyclopedia/235/bws/bottle-sizes-the-worlds-mandatory-bottle-sizes" rel="noreferrer">Difford's Guide</a> point out for the USA mandatory spirits bottle sizes (January 1, 1980) and the European Union mandatory spirits bottle sizes (January 1, 1990). </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-14T00:14:03.103Z
2019-03-14T11:30:31.517Z
2019-03-14T11:30:31.517Z
Ken Graham
<p>Almost every beverage bottle I have come across has it's contents' volume specified in either liters or milliliters. That is except for wine bottles which are more often than not designated in centiliters. For example:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/4ctuI.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/4ctuI.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>Milliliters or liters are far more popular than centiliters in the countries using SI units. Why use centiliters then, especially for something as simple as 1 liter in the example? Has it some historic background?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-13T22:17:41.817Z
Not sure. I see that more on European bottles. In the USA it's either liters or milliliters. Probably just a custom in Europe.
farmersteve
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-22T08:03:46.193Z
I hate to sound pedantic but there is no such thing as a liter or any derivative thereof.
There is a litre. It's a thousandth of a cubic metre.
Dave Gillett
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-03-22T12:08:14.220Z
@DaveGillett I disagree. From what I've seen "litre" is the British spelling and "liter" is the American spelling, both are correct and mean the same thing. I'm more used to American spelling, that's why I used "liter".
Kuba Szymanowski
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-12-11T17:58:05.357Z
@Kuba In Sweden it's a mixture of l, dl, cl and ml. I would say that one is used more often than the other. And I also agree with you that it's spelled liter, who cares about the British spelling :)
Ola Ström
<wine><bottles>
Why are wine bottle volumes in centiliters not in liters or milliliters?
Kuba Szymanowski
# Why are wine bottle volumes in centiliters not in liters or milliliters?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-03-13)

Almost every beverage bottle I have come across has it's contents' volume specified in either liters or milliliters. That is except for wine bottles which are more often than not designated in centiliters. For example:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/4ctuI.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/4ctuI.jpg)

Milliliters or liters are far more popular than centiliters in the countries using SI units. Why use centiliters then, especially for something as simple as 1 liter in the example? Has it some historic background?

**Tags:** wine, bottles

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Not sure. I see that more on European bottles. In the USA it's either liters or milliliters. Probably just a custom in Europe.  
> **username_2**: I hate to sound pedantic but there is no such thing as a liter or any derivative thereof. There is a litre. It's a thousandth of a cubic metre.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 I disagree. From what I've seen "litre" is the British spelling and "liter" is the American spelling, both are correct and mean the same thing. I'm more used to American spelling, that's why I used "liter".  
> **username_3**: @username_0 In Sweden it's a mixture of l, dl, cl and ml. I would say that one is used more often than the other. And I also agree with you that it's spelled liter, who cares about the British spelling :)  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_7 on 2019-03-14. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

**Why are wine bottle volumes in centiliters not in liters or milliliters?**

Part of the answer is in the marketing system used in a particular country or region and part of it would be about the size of bottle being purchased.

In Canada and the USA, in a standard bottle of wine, there are 750 millilitres (ml), 75 centilitres (cl) or 0.75 litres (l). Wine bottles aren't quite litre-size, but the average wine bottle will contain 750ml of wine.

I see only 750ml bottles in the area where I live. I am fine with that. A bottle of wine marketed as 0.75 liters seems less appealing than wine sold in a bottle marketed as 750ml. And one marketed with a 75cl label seems less traditional in this neck of the world and may not sell as good as one sold with 750ml marked on the label. It is sold in a more positive light so to speak. It is all marketing.

I am sure there are other reasons, but take a look at [Difford's Guide](https://www.diffordsguide.com/encyclopedia/235/bws/bottle-sizes-the-worlds-mandatory-bottle-sizes) to mandatory bottle sizes around the world. It is an eye opener to say the least.

However there is more to the Subject:

> When glass bottles become popular though, it is surprising to see that both continental Europe and Great Britain had glass containers of a similar size. The British had an official glass-container size of a fifth of their Imperial (UK) Gallon at around 900ml, while other Europeans' bottles gravitated around 700ml to 800ml. The US officially adopted the 750ml bottle as a standard in 1979, as a metric equivalent to the fifth of a US Gallon (757ml). - [Standard Bottle](https://www.vivino.com/wine-news/a-simple-guide-to-wine-bottle-sizes/standard)

[Alcohol measurement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_measurements) in bottles has undergone several revisions in the last few decades as [Difford's Guide](https://www.diffordsguide.com/encyclopedia/235/bws/bottle-sizes-the-worlds-mandatory-bottle-sizes) point out for the USA mandatory spirits bottle sizes (January 1, 1980) and the European Union mandatory spirits bottle sizes (January 1, 1990).


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-03-14. Score: 2

They are not.

I looked through my collection of wine labels (about 50 from around the globe) - many of them are 0,75l, many are 75cl and some are 750ml. I couldn't determine any dependence of volume unit on country or region or type of the wine.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2019-06-24. Score: 1

Copied from: [Why is 75cl the standard wine bottle size?](https://www.thefrenchcellar.sg/why-is-75cl-the-standard-wine-bottle-size/)

> The volume of 75cl was standardized in the 19th century. At that time,
> the biggest clients for the French wines were the British.
>
> The close neighbors do not use the metric system and used to order
> wine in “imperial gallon”. One gallon is about 4.546 liters.
>
> Barrels were used to transport wine at that time. One barrel is 50
> gallons, about 225 liters. A real nightmare for conversion! So to ease
> the calculation, the wine makers from Bordeaux decided that 1 barrel
> would be 300 bottles of wine instead of 225.
>
> Do the math and you’ll find that it makes a bottle at 75cl! One gallon
> is 6 bottles, and since then, that’s the reason why we still order
> wine in packs of 6 or 12 bottles.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: My question was regarding the use of centiliters rather than liters or milliliters. Thanks for the history background though.  
> **username_6**: @username_5 Welcome to StackExchange!  Correct attribution is very important here.  When you're referencing a source, you need to make sure it's correctly quoted and linked.  Here's more detail from [our Help Center topic on the subject](https://alcohol.stackexchange.com/help/referencing).  

---

