When bottling homemade wine, the color of the glass will not matter so long as the wine is kept in a dark place. Pick whatever color you like. The coloring in the glass will help to filter out much of the UV rays that make their way to the wine bottle. Oxidation does take time.

Traditionally, colored wine bottles have been used to limit exposure to light. Sunlight, and even incandescent light, can cause wine to break down, affecting color, aroma and taste – eventually leading to oxidation. A wine that has been oxidized loses its depth of flavor and can begin to take on a vinegar taste.

At 10% UV wavelength filtration, clear/flint bottles filter the least amount of light, resulting in more light damage than other glass colors. Since 10% isn’t really UV protection, wines bottled in flint/clear glass are meant for immediate use.

Traditionally, the color signaled the wine’s origin: brown meant Rheingau; green, Mosel. During the 1980s, some German Riesling producers started switching to blue bottles to distinguish themselves from the rest.

Moscato (pronounced mo-ska-toh) is a sweet Italian wine known for its fruity notes. Made from the Muscat grape, this white wine is typically thought of as a dessert wine with a hint of fizz. As a point of reference, most red wines have an alcohol content of about 10-12% ABV.

Wine bottles come in all shapes and sizes, from tall and slender to short and stout. And while the bottle shape doesn’t make a difference in terms of impacting the wine’s flavor, the bottle chosen does often represent a good amount of history and tradition that reflects back to where the wine is made.

750 ml Standard: Common bottle size for most distributed wine. 1.5 L Magnum: Equivalent to two standard 750 ml bottles. 3.0 L Double Magnum: Equivalent to two Magnums or four standard 750 ml bottles. 4.5 L Rehoboam: A sparkling wine bottle with six standard 750 ml bottles.

There are three basic shapes most commonly used for bottling wine. Now, there’s no reason you couldn’t put Chardonnay in a Bordeaux-style bottle, but winemakers around the world still use the traditional shapes for the region with which their wines are associated. For most, it’s simply a matter of tradition.

And the Alsace and Mosel bottle is a thin, tall bottle with very gently sloping shoulders, often used for wines such as Riesling. What all of these bottles have in common is that their shapes allow bottles to be stored horizontally, keeping the cork moist and the seal good.

The narrow, lanky shape of the “flutes” used to bottle riesling in the Rhine, Mosel and Alsace is thought to have evolved “to be stackable for transporting and cellaring,” says Lars Carlberg, who writes an online guide to the wines of the Mosel.

575 calories

13 inches tall

around 12″ tall

6-10 inches tall

Liquor bottles

A standard drink is 2 to 3 fluid ounces. Spirits: Spirits are typically 80 proof, which means that they contain 40% alcohol. A standard drink, or a shot, of whiskey, gin, vodka, or brandy is 1.5 fluid ounces.

handle of liquor

You might be surprised at just how fast alcohol begins to take effect. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, alcohol enters your bloodstream as soon as you take that first sip. The effects kick in within about 10 minutes.