🍷 Balthazar

A Balthazar is a Champagne bottle that holds 12 litres, the same as sixteen standard 75 cl bottles. The Comité Champagne lists it between the Salmanazar and the Nebuchadnezzar in its table of formats. You pour from it for an occasion, not for an ordinary dinner.

The sizes climb in steps. A Magnum holds 1.5 litres, a Methuselah 6 and a Salmanazar 9. After the Balthazar come the Nebuchadnezzar at 15 litres and the Solomon at 18. Three more sit above them, up to the Midas at 30 litres, which the Comité reckons at about 240 flutes. Set beside the Standard bottle (0.75 L), a Balthazar is sixteen times bigger.

The names are biblical. Champagne houses began the habit in the 19th century, the Comité says, and other regions copied it. Nobody knows why. Balthazar itself is a loose fit: it is usually tied to one of the three Magi, though the Bible never names them.

Glass for a bottle like this has to be tough. Champagne bottles are built for 20 bar, three times the natural pressure of the wine. For the whole family of big formats see Wine bottle sizes, Magnum and Champagne bottle, and for the stopper on sparkling wine, Sparkling wine cork.