Bottle sizes
14 formats from Quart to Melchizedec · same-bottle rule
The Comité Champagne lists 14 bottle sizes, from the 20 cL Quart to the 30 L Melchizedec.1 Under the current Champagne specification of 31 July 2025, only the 75 cL bottle and the 150 cL magnum must be sold in the bottle in which the second fermentation took place; the other sizes may be filled by transfer.2
All sizes
Names and volumes follow the Comité Champagne factsheet.1 The column "in 75 cL bottles" is the volume divided by 0.75 L. The last column follows the cahier des charges in force (arrêté of 31 July 2025, chapter IX).2
| Name | Volume | In 75 cL bottles | Must be fermented in this bottle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quart | 20 cL | 0.27 | no |
| Demie | 37.5 cL | 0.50 | no |
| Bouteille | 75 cL | 1 | yes |
| Magnum | 1.5 L | 2 | yes |
| Jéroboam | 3 L | 4 | no |
| Réhoboam | 4.5 L | 6 | no |
| Mathusalem | 6 L | 8 | no |
| Salmanazar | 9 L | 12 | no |
| Balthazar | 12 L | 16 | no |
| Nabuchodonosor | 15 L | 20 | no |
| Salomon | 18 L | 24 | no |
| Souverain | 26.25 L | 35 | no |
| Primat | 27 L | 36 | no |
| Melchizedec (Midas) | 30 L | 40 | no |
The Comité Champagne gives the largest format as Melchizedec or Midas and puts its capacity at about 240 glasses.1
The same-bottle rule today
The cahier des charges says that champagne is made and sold in the bottle in which the prise de mousse took place. The exception covers bottles under 75 cL or over 150 cL: they may be filled by transfer (transvasement) of wine that has finished its second fermentation, within the delimited area.2 So a Quart, a Demie and every format from the Jéroboam up may hold wine fermented in standard bottles. Champagne is made and sold in bottles bought new.3,4
How the rule changed
- 2010 to 2020. In the 2010 decree and up to the 2020 version, the exception applied only below 37.5 cL or above 300 cL. The Demie, the Bouteille, the Magnum and the Jéroboam all had to be sold in their fermentation bottle. Transfer into half-bottles was allowed, except for vintage wines, up to 20% of the previous year's half-bottle output.3,5
- 2022. The version approved on 30 November 2022 moved the limits to below 75 cL or above 150 cL. From then on the Demie and the Jéroboam could be filled by transfer.6
- 2024 draft. On 11 September 2024, INAO's national committee approved draft changes for public consultation. That draft set the exception at below 37.5 cL or above 150 cL, which would have brought the Demie back under the same-bottle rule. It also added conditions for transfer: an isobaric counter-pressure system, a food-grade certificate for the gas, traceability and filling at 5 °C or below.4
- 2025. The text homologated on 31 July 2025 (published 5 August 2025) reads "below 75 cL or above 150 cL", as in 2022.2
The 2024 draft and the 2025 text in force disagree on the half-bottle. This page follows the homologated 2025 text. If a later revision adopts the draft wording, the Demie would again have to be fermented in its own bottle.
Why format matters for long ageing: bottle size and ageing.
See also
Sources
- Comité Champagne (champagne.education). Factsheet: Champagne Bottle Sizes (EN) (2024)
- Bulletin officiel du ministère de l'Agriculture (BO-AGRI), 7 August 2025. Cahier des charges de l'AOC « Champagne », homologated by arrêté of 31 July 2025 (JORF 5 August 2025), chapter IX §3 a) (2025-07-31)
- European Commission eAmbrosia register (copy of JORF text). Décret n° 2010-1441 du 22 novembre 2010 relatif à l'AOC « Champagne » (with annexed cahier des charges) (2010-11-22)
- INAO. Modifications du cahier des charges de l'AOP « Champagne » approuvées par le comité national (procédure nationale d'opposition), 11 September 2024 (2024-09-11)
- BO-AGRI, 3 September 2020. Cahier des charges de l'AOC « Champagne » as modified by arrêté of 19 August 2020, chapter IX §3 a) (2020-08-19)
- BO-AGRI, 15 December 2022. Cahier des charges de l'AOC « Champagne », approved by arrêté of 30 November 2022 (JORF 10 December 2022), chapter IX §3 a) (2022-11-30)
Facts checked on 2026-10-19