THE BIRTH OF THE BOTTLE

THE INVENTOR
Glass and wine were finally linked in 1662 when Sir Kene Digby, a British courtier, made the first tubular, shouldered bottle with a long neck. Its cylindrical shape allowed it to be stored horizontally and it had a ring on the upper end to adjust the wooden stopper on a string. The lack of elasticity of the wood would mean that it would fall out of the opening.
This was the start of the bottle as we know it today, christened by the Dutch as the “English bottle” and “bordelaise” by the French who adopted it to export their clarets from 1707.

THE FIRST BOTTLES
The olive green almost translucent colour happened by pure accident (the smoke from the peat charcoal used in the ovens gave the glass this dark colour which was later found to be beneficial to the wine as it kept the light out).

THE FIRST STOPPERS
At the start, glass stoppers were used which fitted into the bottle opening using emery powder and oil. The stopper stayed in the neck with a string (the shape of current bottle neck have their origins in this string). This meant that every bottle had its own stopper which made the sealing process more expensive and complicated. Later more flexible wooden stoppers were used instead of glass stoppers.

THE ARRIVAL OF THE CORK
When the wooden stopper was finally replaced by the cork, a container which ensured the preservation of the wine without losing its main qualities was found. However, as wine is living, it does not remain completely unchanged in the bottle.