Does anyone know what the indent on the bottom of a good wine bottle is called and what it is used for?

Question

First correct answer gets 10 points.

Answer 1

For good wine bottles which have been kept for so long, the primary purpose is to "catch" the sediments.

Something to note is is that white wine generally does not have sediments even after storing for a long time. It is more of an aesthetic aspect for white wines.

The answer below is from Wikipedia.
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Punts

A punt, also known as a kick-up, is the term used to refer to the dimple at the bottom of a wine bottle. There is no consensus as to the reason why wine bottles today have punts, though everyone seems to be adamant that their explanation is the correct one. The more commonly cited explanations are:

The punt as a historical artifact

* They are an historical remnant of old-fashioned glass-blowing techniques
* They once had the function of making the bottle less likely to topple over. A bottle designed with a flat bottom only needs a small imperfection to make it unstable. In the past, it may have been safer to give the bottle a dimple to allow for a margin of error
* They once had (and may still have) the function of strengthening the bottle, particularly useful in the case of sparkling wine


The punt as having a function

* Sediment deposits at the bottom or side of the bottle (depending on how the wine was stored), which the punt can help to consolidate
* They allow bottles of sparkling wine to be turned upside-down and then stacked (depending on their shape)
* They can make the bottle look bigger
* They lessen the chance for breaking bottles when cases are stacked on top of one another

Answer 2

A punt is the concave bottom of a 'better' wine wine bottles . The earliest origins of the punt are lost in history but there is much conjecture. Punts likely existed either for strength of the bottom of the bottle (especially with sparkling wine) or in order to form a stable (non-rocking) bottom in the hand-blown bottles. Today a punt is unnecessary and exists only because many consumers equate the presence of a punt as an indication of quality. Modern glass technology allows bottles to be made that do not require a punt for strength or stability for either sparkling or still wines.

Answer 3

Mostly in bottles with sparkling wine (like champagne) : is to relieve the pressure on the bottom so it won't "blow" out

Answer 4

i think it is used for the balance of the bottle so it wont tip over as easily that is why soda bottles (the plastic ones) have the angular shapes on the bottom

Answer 5

i dont know what its called, i just call it "the dent" and its used to see the impurities in the wine, i.e. peices of cork, or fruit, things not supposed to be in wine like rat droppings, and such

Answer 6

its on every bottle...even the crappy wine has it. and its cause wine bottles are made upside down.