Half the bottle, yet twice the fun.

by Steven Fox

Is the bottle half empty or half full?

If it’s a half bottle (375 ml), it’s full… at least until I get one in front of me

Years ago, at the peak of my wine buying and cellar building phase, I made the decision to purchase as many half bottles as possible.

I ended up with over 400. My cellar currently has more than 300.

The reason I’m crazy about half bottles is because I cook at least five days a week. It’s pretty cool to have the option of doing three-course meals and match each dish with a different wine. Half bottles are perfect for this as three 375 ml bottles between two people doesn’t present much of a challenge during a lengthy dinner. Half bottles allow for variety without needing to re-cork and gamble on not finishing the opened bottle before it goes bad.

Half bottles are great for even the simplest home dinners: A white to start the evening; A red to drink with dinner; And a dessert wine to savor with cheese or to just bring the evening to a mellow end.

Last week a friend from my weekly wine tasting group and I had diner at Momofuko Ko. The restaurant seats only 13 persons at a L-shaped bar. The chefs create and present several courses to the patrons. As they offer a diverse multi-course menu, half bottles were the ideal wine matching solution for two people.

Because many of my acquisitions were made over fifteen years ago, I own a lot of seriously decadent half bottles. The wines I brought to the restaurant are listed below and in parenthesis are the original purchase prices:

1985 Lafite-Rothschild ($42.00)
1989 Margaux ($34.00)
1989 Montrose ($15.00
2001 Griotte-Chambertin, Domaine Ponsot ($81.00)

Additionally, my friend brought a regular bottle of 1983 Brundlmayer Gruner Veltliner and a half bottle of a Sine Qua Non dessert wine made by Manfred Krankl.

From the wine prospective, it was an evening that I wish every wine lover in the world could have shared with us. As time went on the wines changed in our glasses and witnessing their evolution was a fascinating bonus to an amazing dinner.

Many people question how well wine ages in the 375 ml format. My friend and I both agreed that the 1989 Montrose had many years ahead of it. All of the wines, I felt, were in sync with their 750 ml counterparts in terms of evolution.

This weekend I opened a half bottle of 1990 Haut Brion to accompany a sauce of mushroom and ground turkey meat over fresh spinach pasta. The earthy qualities of the wine married well with the four types of mushrooms I incorporated into the sauce. With the Haut Brion in front of me and with the Momofuku Ko dinner fresh in my memory, I was grateful for my decision to obtain so many wonderful half bottles.

To anyone with, or in the process of putting together a cellar, I strongly recommend that a section of half bottles become an important part of it. In many situations, a little goes a long way.