Term
Magnum
MAG-num
1.5 litres, slower aging
A double bottle. More wine, less oxygen per millilitre, a longer life, and a better table.
Wine in magnum ages more slowly and often more gracefully because the ullage-to-wine ratio is smaller. Half-bottles age faster. That is why restaurants love magnums of wines meant to be drunk with a crowd, and why collectors chase them.
Formats go on: double magnum, jeroboam, methuselah, nebuchadnezzar. The names are theatre; the chemistry is real.
If you are six at dinner, a magnum is the correct unit.
