Why Don’t More Menus Feature Half-Bottles of Wine?

The days of three-martini lunches are long over, and lower-ABV drinks and zero-proof aperitifs are on the rise. Now, sommeliers and wine brands are also exploring smaller-format bottles that offer high-quality ways to meet more conscious drinkers in the middle. 

“Half-bottles offer guests a wider variety of options and experiences,” says Dave Wallace, the beverage director at The Charleston Grill in Charleston, South Carolina, which stocks more than a dozen smaller former wines. Dining with fussy drinkers? Solo diners? Half-bottles are your answer. “If you don’t want to commit to a full bottle or if you’re not enticed by the glass selections, half-bottles are a great option to maximize your dining experience,” says Wallace.

The industry is embracing the appeal. At New York City’s Coqodaq, sommelier Victoria James uses a selection of 20-odd half-bottles to make Champagne and sparkling wines more approachable. At Cook in St. Helena, California, off-duty winemakers often dot the bar to fuel up on food after clocking out, and mini bottles, which are more compatible with a quick dinner, are an especially popular order.

“I find guests order half-bottles based on their mood and how they’ll be dining,” says Wallace. “If it’s a quick dinner, like a steak, they’ll opt for a half-bottle of Bordeaux or Barolo. If it’s a three-hour culinary adventure, they curate their own wine experience.”

“Offering half-bottles allows our guests to embark on a thrilling journey through our exceptional wine selection, sampling a variety of world-class wines without committing to a full bottle,” says Molly Austad, wine director at Bludorn in Houston, Texas. She serves prestigious white Burgundy (Domaine Bonneau du Martray) and Ridge’s ever-popular Zinfandel by the half bottle.

Jim Rollston, the sommelier for the Bacchus Group in San Francisco, will use half-bottles to geek out, share pricier or allocated bottles at a more digestible price, or to tempt customers to try something different with less upfront commitment. 

“If I have guests who love Brunello, and want to try a new producer, half-bottles give them a read on the stylistic differences between, say, Pieve Santa Restituta and Ciacci Piccolomini without buying a whole bottle,” he says.

Half-bottles are also a little more special than the house pour, and allow sommeliers to step in and curate the moment. Rollston currently has five times the number of half-bottles than glasses to serve them in. “Having a big selection of half-bottles gives us so many more opportunities to connect with customers and find something that will really make an impact with them,” says Rollston. “And when you order a half-bottle over a glass, the condition of the wine — [such as] when was the bottle opened [or] was it stored correctly — isn’t in question.”

Drinking less (but better)

The half-bottle lures in more drinkers, particularly ones who are conscientious about moderation and hesitant about full bottles. 

Numbers show that the alcohol-considerate or avoidant crowd is expanding. Beverage analytics firm IWSR notes that 64% of adults are moderating their intake, with the figure rising among younger generations —70% of millennials and 75% of Gen Z are described as conscientious of their alcohol consumption.

“We see tables where one guest is not drinking for one reason or another, so the other guest might choose a half-bottle to enjoy throughout the meal,” says Rollston.

He notes that producers themselves are happy to indulge in consumers’ newfound love of smaller format wines, and that in more covetable wine categories, half-bottles now sell out at a rapid clip. . “These days there are more and more top-quality wines in half-bottles,” says Rollston. “There are less and less available. White Burgundy is getting tougher to find in half-bottle format.”

“When COVID-19 hit, we saw a huge jump in demand [as] people wanted half-bottles for their to-go meals and virtual tastings,” says Jason Haas, partner and general manager of Tablas Creek Vineyard. “They’re an exceptionally consumer-friendly way to offer wine.”

But not all producers pursue demi-bottles — it’s an expensive investment and often a less profitable format than standard bottles. 

Thibaut Le Mailloux, marketing director of Champagne Gosset, which currently offers half-bottles, is still iffy on the format. “Our standard bottles are custom-designed, so carrying half-bottles means we have to custom-make more bottles,” he says.

In 2019, Haas wrote that half-bottles cost two-thirds of the cost of a full-sized bottle, and that the capsule, cork, and label for half-sized bottles cost just as much as the full option. 

“And we can’t sell the wine for two-thirds of the price of a full bottle [what he needs to make it profitable] because if we did, customers would never buy it,” he says. “Offering half-bottles is not a financially-driven decision — it’s a relationship-building one. We eat the extra cost.”

Baller wines, baby bottles

At the James Beard Award-nominated Saffron, wine director Taylor Adams divides his half-bottle list into two sections: club classics (Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon, Burgundy and California) and deep cuts, which he describes as ”unique and appealing things that drinkers would only consider in a [relatively] more non-committal format.”

If you’re burdened by expensive taste and a slacking wallet, these smaller formats are easier entryways to higher-end wines. “It’s a way to explore elevated options,” says Albert Beltran, the sommelier and bar manager at Wayfare Tavern in San Francisco. 

Similarly, if you’re curious about grand cru wines or acclaimed producers, half-bottles offer them for half the price—spendy, but with less sticker shock. “For us, it’s the best way to offer world-class bottles without the risk of having expensive wines start spoiling,” says Beltran.

“I find most people who order half-bottles are open to tasting unfamiliar wines — the buy-in is much less if they don’t love them,” he adds.

Bryce Faucheaux runs the wine program at Justine, a jewel box brasserie in New Orlean’s French Quarter. He’s built out a substantial half-bottle list that includes premiere cru Pinot Noir from Côte de Beaune (Domaine de Courcel Pommard 1er Cru Grand Clos des Epenots). “It’s $180 on our list, which is a very attractive price at Premier Cru level, especially with how expensive Burgundy has gotten,” he says.

There may be other benefits to the format as well. “Half-bottles theoretically age quicker than standard bottles, since the amount of ullage — the gap between the wine and the cork — is larger,” says Faucheaux. Just another way half-bottles can add more oomph for less.