Order wine from a restaurant and you might notice the sommelier pours you a glass in a distinctive manner. Their thumb is slipped into an indent of the bottom of the bottle, their index and middle fingers supporting the body. From this encounter, one could infer that the indent on that wine bottle is there to assist with pouring wine. That’s not wrong … but it’s also not entirely right, either.
It’s called a “punt”
First off, the indent is called a “punt,” and its origin goes back to when bottles were made by hand. Glassblowers would use a pontil rod affixed to the bottom of the bottle so the opposite end could be fashioned. Once the bottle was finished, the removal of the pontil rod resulted in a permanent indentation at the bottom of the bottle. The punts were also useful for adding stability to bottles so they wouldn’t topple over when standing upright.
Punts were also useful for adding stability to bottles so they wouldn’t topple over when standing upright.
While the pontil rod is the practical reason for the existence of the punt, people also believe the punt was an intended feature to offset the pressure of holding sparkling wine as it underwent in-bottle fermentation.
There are also those who believe the circular ring around the punt helps catch sediments and reduces the likelihood that they end up in your glass. While these theories could hold water, there’s no record that these were the intentions of the punt.
