By Kelechi Deca
Just a few years in the past, somebody made a declare to my listening to that the easiest way to know a superb wine is the presence of that inward dimple on the backside of its bottle. Everybody round was soaking on this nicely packaged ignorance as gospel. I noticed glimmers of their eyes and began combating inside myself whether or not to burst their bubble or to permit them to take pleasure in their ‘tipsied’ bliss.
I had so many issues of my very own that night time, so I allowed that chance to cross me by. Even for a style of their whiskey, I refused to offer some recommendation. Remembering the phrases of legendary Kenny Rogers, as I “drank down my final swallow,” I “know when to stroll away, and know when to run.”
Many individuals can swear on their grandma’s grave that the existence of a punt, and in addition the scale of a wine bottle’s punt, have one thing to do with the standard. I had an analogous dialog with my crew whereas inspecting some merchandise from the fellows at Naijaliquor.com, an e-commerce platform for liquor in Nigeria. That dialog knowledgeable the necessity for this crash course. Nonetheless, as I instructed my crew, the punt nonetheless serves crucial functions.
Kind following perform
It was the good Architect Louis Sullivan who coined the phrase “Kind follows perform” to clarify a design precept that states that the form of an object or constructing must be primarily decided by its supposed goal. Whereas the punt had a unique historic goal, different very helpful functions grew out of necessity to accommodate its versatility.
First, it grew to become a Decanter’s companion as a result of some bottles market themselves with the scale of their punts and the way majestic it makes them sit like a royal on high of a wine shelf. Within the vineyard, historical past is every part. Within the olden days, it was difficult producing wine bottles that had been secure on their bottoms.
Moreso, bottles had been solely made by glassblowers, in order that they normally inserted an iron to depress into the underside of the bottle whereas the glass was nonetheless workable, leaving this indentation. The iron rod was known as a “punto,” and so the indentation it made whereas rolling the bottle grew to become generally known as the “punt.” That gave stability to the bottles.
Apparently, expertise has improved the method, and machines now make bottles. Why then will we nonetheless have inward dimples regardless that they not serve a structural perform besides in bottles of glowing wine, which have fixed stress inside. In these instances, the punt permits for extra even distribution of stress.
One more reason why this custom has continued with us is that wines proceed to develop within the bottle as their ageing course of is a continuum, so the punt helps to provide sediments. These fall to the underside of the bottle over time and type a layer.
If the bottle was flat-bottomed, when the wine is poured, this layer is well disturbed, and the poured wine finally ends up cloudy, spoiling its look and generally its style. So the presence of the punt signifies that the sediment is deeper, with a smaller floor space, thus simpler to keep away from disturbing.
The concave backside provides energy to the bottle (fundamental physics), which is necessary for glowing wines which are below fixed stress. They should reply their names and sparkle, however glowing comes at a value as gaseous effervescent builds up stress on the bottle. Thus, the punt helps soak within the pressures.
The concave backside helps accumulate sediment in a smaller space so it doesn’t disperse into the glass when the wine is poured. The presence of sediments is definitely a sign of high quality as a result of many cheaper wines are filtered or whirled in a centrifuge earlier than bottling to keep away from sediment. Add to that, the punt helps in cooling. When a bottle is positioned in ice, the concave backside will increase the floor space that touches the ice, so the wine cools sooner.
One other use of the punt is the lodging of the potter’s thumb, with the fore and center fingers positioned beneath the bottle. This means of dealing with the wine bottle is taken into account by connoisseurs as the easiest way to attenuate the switch of physique warmth to the bottle whereas pouring wine as a result of a slight change in temperature can change the ‘wineness’ of the wine.
Drink responsibly, and drink healthily by avoiding fakes, purchase from trusted sources, that’s why organizations like Naija Liquor interact extra in educating clients on learn how to get the true stuff in a market stuffed with the opposite stuff.
Kelechi Deca is a social media influencer for Naija Liquor
