What's a "jerobam?"

A Jeroboam (named after an evil biblical king) is a large wine bottle. There are two sizes of Jeroboams: A sparkling wine Jeroboam equals 4 regular bottles, or 3.0 liters. A red wine Jeroboam equals 6 regular bottles, or 4.5 liters. There are also some 5.0 liter Jeroboams.

Standard wine-bottle sizes:

--------------------------- Half-Bottle 375 milliliters or one half of the standard bottle size. Also known as a "split" or a "tenth".

[Standard] Bottle 750 milliliters of wine, this is the standard size. Also called a "fifth", because it is 1/5 of a US gallon.

Magnum 1.5 lters or two times the standard bottle size

Double Magnum 3.0 liters or twice the size of a magnum, equivalent of 4 bottles.

Jeroboam Sparkling wine Jeroboam equals 4 regular bottles, or 3.0 liters. Red wine Jeroboam equals 6 regular bottles, or 4.5 liters. Some 5.0 liter Jeroboams exist.

Imperial (not the same as an Imperial gallon, which is 4.5 litres) 6.0 liters or 8 regular bottles.

Methuselah (named after my younger brother, the chap in Genesis wot live 969 years) Same size as an Imperial but is usually used for sparkling wines and is Burgundy-shaped.

Salmanazar (named after someone in the Book of Daniel) 9.0 liters. 12 regular bottles or one case.

Balthazar (named after another someone in the Book of Daniel) 12.0 liters. 16 bottles. Usually used for sparkling wines.

Nebuchadnezzar (named after the wicked Babylonian king responsible for destruction of the First Temple) 15.0 liters. 20 regular bottles. Usually used for sparkling wines.

I think a split is 187 mls.

clyde

The term is used for both the 187 ml bottle and the 375 ml bottle (as you can verify with an internet search for "split wine bottle"). It originally applied to the 375 ml bottle, and derived from "Let's split a bottle". :)

The 187 ml bottle is a relatively new creation.

You can find just about whatever you want on the internet. Doesn't mean it's correct.

Sounds catchy, but I don't think it's true.

What makes you think that?

clyde

Negodki: The term is used for both the 187 ml bottle and the 375 ml bottle (as you can verify with an internet search for "split wine bottle").

Clyde: You can find just about whatever you want on the internet. Doesn't mean it's correct.

Negodki: No, but it DOES prove that the term IS used (correctly or incorrectly) for both the 187 ml and 375 ml bottles, which is what I stated. I also posted a followup which admitted that the definition in the BATF regs corresponds with yours. That doesn't negate the fact that the term is used for both bottle sizes. And since usage of a word defines its accepted meaning, neither definition is correct or incorrect.

Negodki: It originally applied to the 375 ml bottle, and derived from "Let's split a bottle". :)

Clyde: Sounds catchy, but I don't think it's true.

Negodki: No? Then what is the etymology of the term in this context?

Negodki: The 187 ml bottle is a relatively new creation.

Clyde: What makes you think that?

Negodki: History?

Please refer to my TWO previous posts in this thread.

When Clyde posed his objection to my definitions (which I also obtained from someone "in the wine bottle business"), I did an Internet search to see if my source was in error. I found there were just as many merchants "in the wine bottle business" who used the term to refer to a 375 ml bottle as there were merchants "in the wine bottle business" who used the term for a 187 ml bottle. So I concluded that the term (obviously) is used for both sizes (by different people), and so stated. [For that matter, merchants "in the wine bottle business" also use the term "split" to refer to a 500 ml bottle!]

I also noted that the Treasury once used the term to denote the 1/20 gallon (189.3 ml) bottle (which has now been replaced by its closest metric equivalent, the 187 ml bottle), just as the "fifth" gallon (757 ml) bottle has now been replaced by ITS closest metric equivalent, the 750 ml bottle. Thus the 187 ml bottle is of even more recent origin (in this country) than the 1/20 gallon "split".

I also did some additional research, which indicates that the term "split" originally referred to the 375 ml bottle (or rather the 1/10 gallon bottle) for the reason stated in my earlier post. It was the Treasury that later chose to "misuse" the term for the 1/20 gallon bottle. However, those who were accustomed to calling a 1/10 gallon bottle a split have continued to do so, as have those who learned their "bottle terminology" from those sources.

Furthermore, since we have three different size bottles (3.0 litre, 4.5 litre, and 5.0 liter) represented by the term "Jeroboam", and three current legal measures represented by the term "gallon" (US dry gallon, US liquid gallon, Imperial Gallon) , why is it so difficult for you to accept that two bottle sizes might be referred to by the term "split"?