Big Bottles for Maximum Champagne Pleasure: Magnums, Jeroboams and Methuselahs for Memorable Parties and Celebrations

The season of festive gatherings with friends, family, and colleagues is just starting, and for champagne lovers, nothing seems more exciting than thinking about the next bottle to share. For some occasions, however, a regular bottle just doesn’t seem big enough for a thirsty group of drinkers. 

But what’s an appropriate format to choose among the various choices from magnum to Nebuchadnezzar? Let’s take a closer look at the most convenient bottle sizes that will turn your celebrations – whether it’s a dinner party, holiday festivities, a marriage or a special anniversary – into sparkling moments to remember.

The Classic Format: Bouteille

Everything begins with the standard bottle size, unpretentiously called bouteille. Although the market offers smaller formats such as the Quart or Demie – the quarter and half-bottle – the standard bouteille is the first bottle size that is intended to serve more than two people, so we’re beginning with this size as our entry point.

The most-sold bottle format contains 750 ml, a convenient size that will pour five generous champagne glasses to enjoy with a meal, or about seven smaller glasses to serve as an apéritif or in a tasting series with several cuvées to discover.  

The Gold Standard: Magnum

A festive menu or occasions that bring together your closest loved ones, such as Christmas, birthdays, or other anniversaries, are suitable occasions to upgrade your bottle size and consider magnum bottles. Magnums contain 1500 ml of champagne and have significant benefits. First and foremost, a magnum serves 12 to 15 glasses and drastically reduces the time spent running around opening bottles if all you wish to do is enjoy the time with your guests. 

Furthermore, magnums offer enhanced aging potential and a gain in wine quality, making them the favorite format for enthusiasts who appreciate mature champagne and older vintages. With a smaller ratio between liquid and oxygen, the oxygen has less impact on the development of the wine inside a magnum bottle compared to a regular bouteille. This slows down the oxidation process significantly and makes these bottles ideally suited for long bottle-aging by enhancing a slow and steady development. 

In comparison to other formats, magnum bottles tend to seem fresher, more nuanced, and more vibrant many years after they were bottled. As such, magnum bottles remain the optimal choice for all collectors and wine enthusiasts who wish to store their champagne bottles for years to come.

The Size for Thirsty Groups or Big Families: Jeroboam

Holding the equivalent of 4 standard bottles, the Jeroboam’s 3000 ml content is sufficient for a big round of thirsty invitees. This bottle size fills up to 30 champagne glasses and is a fantastic size for any kind of anniversary or family reunion with many bubbly loving palates to cater to.

No matter if you’re picking a fruity or refreshing champagne to satisfy different taste preferences during an apéritif, if you’re picking a more complex champagne to enjoy throughout all courses of a gourmet menu from entrée to dessert, or if you choose a special vintage that relates to your event – our shop offers many excellent options to match any requirement and occasion.

The Showstopper Format for Parties: Methuselah 

If you plan to host a big party with many guests and wish to make the event extra-special, a Methuselah bottle with 6000 ml of sparkling champagne – equaling 8 regular bottles – is the most charming way to make everyone feel like a VIP. 

Serving up to 60 glasses of sparkling joy, this format is suitable for any festive occasion such as marriages, baby showers, team events, or other memorable moments such as a ship naming ceremony.

Keep in mind that larger bottle sizes such as the Methuselah can quickly get bulky and heavy on the hand as you pour the glasses. Particularly thick glass renders the large bottle solid and manageable during production, but a helping hand will be of service as you pour 60 glasses without wasting a drop. 

Further Pour-to-Impress Formats

Of course, the scale of formats continues even after the Methuselah bottle: Salmanazar, Balthazar, or Nebuchadnezzar are some of the format names, and they continue to grow up to the Melchisedech size that equals 40 standard bottles. These super-sized formats, however, are made to impress and are so large and heavy that they require a team of people to open, handle, and pour the champagne correctly. 

Usually, these formats are a blend of several magnum- or jeroboam-aged champagne bottles, which are first transferred into a large vessel before they are filled into the final large format bottle. As part of this heavy-impact undertaking, special machinery is required to protect the wines from oxidation and maintain the precious sparkle.

If you are interested in knowing more about those super-sized formats and advice on serving sizes for special occasions, have a look at our article Bottle Sizes of Champagne for New Year’s Eve.

Five Big Bottles that Will Make the Next Party Sparkle:

• The expressive limited-edition magnum for joyful get-togethers: The sought-after Champagne Louis Roederer Brut Nature 2015 Starck Magnum was just released in another limited edition. The single-village blend from Cumières will brighten up any cheerful occasion with its expressive concentration and juicy yet delicate zestiness. Serve it with refreshing finger food or sushi, pair it with seafood, fish courses, or poultry dishes, or enjoy it with your loved ones during a long evening with several refills.

• A shining magnum for extended champagne moments: Made from the exceptional vintage 2008, Champagne Thiénot Cuvée Stanislas 2008 Magnum is the perfect bottle to delve into the generosity, aromatic intensity, and vibrating freshness of a luminous vintage. This Côte des Blancs Chardonnay is a splendid choice for gourmet aperitifs or indulgent seafood platters. It is also a classy companion for sushi, delicate fish and poultry courses with creamy or buttery sauces, or even matured hard cheeses.

• A single-variety Jeroboam that can serve a whole dinner party from apéritif all through to the cheese board: The multi-vintage 100% Meunier Brut Nature Champagne Moussé Fils Les Vignes de mon Village Jéroboam adapts beautifully to a wide variety of dishes and stronger flavors such as grilled poultry, red meat, winter’s root vegetables, or even matured cheeses and can easily be the one-and-only champagne star of a dinner party from beginning to end.

• The sophisticated Jeroboam for your uncomplicated reception with mixed tapas, charcuterie, and cheese: Generous fruitiness and ample depth from partial oak-aging make the Champagne AR Lenoble Brut Intense Jéroboam blend of Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay a delicious match for all tapas-style finger food, salty snacks like olives, strong-flavored cured meats from Parma or Serrano ham to Coppa, as well as aged cheeses.
  
  
• Impressing a large crowd with a multi-faceted Mathusalem that everyone loves: Both refreshing and juicy, Champagne Billecart-Salmon Brut Réserve Mathusalem will impress and satisfy a wide range of taste preferences from champagne novice to connoisseur. Its harmonious balance, pronounced fruit notes, and delicate complexity will accompany many culinary choices from apéritif to the menu.