Why does a wine bottle have a dimple in its bottom, of varying sizes?

Answer 1

the larger the dimple the better the wine- usually.
if you have a bottle with a flat bottom it does not necessarily mean that it is crap, but you will be able to get better.
if you notice, all champagnes have large dimples in their bottles, the better the champagne the larger the dimple.
and it also helps to have a large dimple when pouring wine the correct way as it acts as a hold for your thumb whilst the rest of your hand cups the bottle.

Answer 2

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 3

I was always told it was to help when pouring.

As someone already mentioned, it helps waiters - they did not explain how: One holds the bottle at the bottom & puts one's thumb in the dimple, thus being able to grasp the bottle easily.

I accept that it may also be used for strentgh, especially for sparkling wines, as beer bottles also have a dimple, or punt.

Answer 4

The glass is thinner dimple so that when loads of bottles are stacked on their side, if one breaks it doesn't collapse the whole stack.

Answer 5

it is for when a waiter is serving. the longer the dimple the lonnger the waiter can reach accross the table

Answer 6

to collect sediment and make the bottle more pressure proof

Answer 7

it acts like a decanter

Answer 8

.............it is the 'baby cord' ....when the bottle is made ....this is where they feed the molten glass...........