The Salmanazar is a wine bottle size that corresponds to a 9-litre bottle. In this article, we discover this wine bottle well known to enthusiasts.
Where the name Salmanazar comes from
The name comes from Shalmaneser V, king of Assyria, a region in northern Mesopotamia, from 727 to 722 BC. He is the only Assyrian king in the series: most wine bottle names come from kings and figures of the Bible, from Jeroboam to Nebuchadnezzar. You’ll come across this format mostly in Champagne, where it sits just above the Methuselah (6 litres) and just below the Balthazar (12 litres).
Capacity of the Salmanazar
A Salmanazar holds 9 litres of wine, the equivalent of 12 traditional 75 cl bottles. This bottle could also be the equivalent of 3 Jeroboams or 6 Magnums. With such a bottle, you should be able to serve about 72 glasses of wine. The benefit of such a large format is that it lets you serve a large table at special events. That said, storing it in your wine cellar and moving it isn’t the easiest.
How to open a Salmanazar?
Such a bottle is often sealed with wax. So you first have to pierce the wax with your corkscrew. Then you can open your bottle. Potentially, you might need a two-prong cork puller for an aged bottle.
