Wine bottle shapes: What's the difference and does it matter?

Do wine-bottle shapes influence the flavour and quality of wine? A wine expert from the Golan Heights Wineries explains.

I enjoy a glass of wine and have noticed over the years that wine bottles do come in different shapes but have never really paid that much attention to what wine is bottled in which shaped bottle; I just thought maybe that particular wines had to be stored in a certain shaped bottles because it helped improve their flavour.

There are certain experts who enjoy sharing their knowledge and create an atmosphere that allows you to feel comfortable about asking basic questions without feeling like an idiot, Golan Heights Winery’s kashrut supervisor and wine educator Shalom Aronzon is one of those people.

Why does wine come in different shaped bottles, is it to help improve the flavour of certain wines?

"No, it is an international marketing strategy based on cultural tradition. The shape has nothing to do with making the wine taste better or improving its quality actually.
Basically, there are four main bottle shapes. The Hock bottle, Bordelaise, Burgundy, and Rhône.
People who are 'in the know' will understand that a certain bottle shape signifies a certain wine."

Shalom explained that the tall, slender ‘hock’ bottle, usually narrower than other bottle shapes, is an accepted shape for Germanic wines such as the Gewurztraminer and Riesling.

The Bordelaise bottle with straight sides and obvious shoulders is the classic shaped bottle used for wines from the Bordeaux region in South-Western France.