Its origin is in the first glass blowers who left a shape in that part of the bottle that ensured its standing without difficulty.

That cavity known as chopped serves to:

1. Preserve the liquid better

The cavity only depends on the choice of the producer and has no impact on the quality of the wine. It makes sense for producers whose wines are designed to spend long periods of time in the cellar, such as a Bordeaux, to go for bottles with large indentations, but it will not be necessary for producers who market wines that will be drunk within a year, such as a rosé.

2. Avoid breakage of the container by pressure.

In carbonic maceration wines especially, if the bottle were completely smooth, the risk of it exploding due to pressure would be very high. That is why, thanks to the slit, it can be kept longer and prevent this from happening. This convex shape of the base increases the strength of the container.

3. Allow sediment to remain only in the outer circle so that none of the grounds go into the glass when serving.

The fact that the glass creates that shape at the base allows the sediments, those solid materials that are deposited at the bottom of the ampoule when a wine ages, to remain only in the outer circle, in this way, it is much easier that none of the grounds pass into the glass when served. It is for this reason that the most mature wines are stored in containers with a larger indentation.