| Type | Capacity | Number of bottles |
| Quarter (not illustrated) | 18.75 cl | 1/4 |
| Half-Bottle | 37.5 cl | 1/2 |
| Bottle | 75 cl | 1 |
| Magnum | 1.5 l | 2 |
| Jeroboam | 3 l | 4 |
| Rehoboam | 4.5 l | 6 |
| Methuselah | 6 l | 8 |
| Salmanazar | 9 l | 12 |
| Balthazar | 12 l | 16 |
| Nebuchadnezzar | 15 l | 20 |
A useful mnemonic for these big bottle sizes is:
My Judy Really Makes Splendid Belching Noises
Big bottles have a novelty value, but because of the difficulty in moving such a large mass for riddling and disgorgement (a full Nebuchadnezzar weighs 38 kilos!), in most houses the secondary fermentation is carried out in magnums. The wine is then decanted into the larger bottles. This inevitably results in a loss of pressure. Some would say that there is a chance of more oxidation as a result of this, and that Champagne from a giant bottle is inferior to that from the magnum it was fermented in.
A notable exception to this practice is the house of Drappier, who are very much the big bottle specialists. They carry out bottle fermentation in even the very largest sized bottles. Imagine riddling and disgorging a Primat by hand! Michel Drappier tells me that an empty Primat bottle costs around £400! They have to be specially made, and also pressure tested so as to withstand more than 90lbs. per sq. inch (6 bar).
For some more information about large bottle sizes used for other wines check out: Giantbottles.com and Onvine