1 00:00:01,800 --> 00:00:07,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey Brainstuff. Floren 2 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:11,680 Speaker 1: Vogel Bomb here. If you've ever picked up a wine bottle, 3 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 1: you may have noticed a pretty distinctive feature, a big 4 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:19,079 Speaker 1: dent in the bottom. The technical term for the dent 5 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:23,959 Speaker 1: is punt, and given that winemaking and bottling traditions go 6 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: back centuries or even millennia, surely this dent has been 7 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: there since time immemorial to serve some specific and scientific 8 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: purpose or not. There's no real consensus on why the 9 00:00:37,440 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 1: punt is there, but it does have a number of 10 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 1: practical uses, so no matter why glassblowers started putting punts 11 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:48,640 Speaker 1: and bottles, they've stuck around. The first and maybe most 12 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,239 Speaker 1: plausible reason for putting an indentation in the base of 13 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: a wine bottle is that it makes the bottle less tippy. 14 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: A wine bottles are often tall and narrow, and when 15 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: they were originally hand blown, the loss blowing process created 16 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,600 Speaker 1: a seam at the bottom. Adding the punt pushed the 17 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:07,559 Speaker 1: seam up into the bottle, and the extra weight helped 18 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:11,120 Speaker 1: keep the bottom where it belongs on the table. It 19 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:13,839 Speaker 1: seems less likely that the punt is there to catch 20 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: wine sediment or dregs in the bottom of the bottle. 21 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: I mean it kind of does, but when you're pouring wine, 22 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:22,959 Speaker 1: the sediment is actually caught by the shoulders of the bottle, 23 00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:26,679 Speaker 1: that is, where the bottle curves into the neck, and 24 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 1: many bottles of wine are stored on their sides anyway, 25 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:32,800 Speaker 1: so the punt wouldn't matter for that. Furthermore, there's the 26 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: fact that many wines don't really contain sediments, but their 27 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:39,760 Speaker 1: bottles still have punts, and that leads us to a 28 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:44,600 Speaker 1: couple of sneakier reasons for that indentation. For a long time, 29 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: the finest wines had punts and cheaper wines did not. 30 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 1: But the makers of cheaper wines figured out that people 31 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:54,560 Speaker 1: might pay more for wine in bottles with punts because 32 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: they thought it meant the wine was of a higher quality, 33 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 1: So today punts exist across many wine prices and qualities. 34 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:04,480 Speaker 1: Then there's the fact that a bottle with a punt 35 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:07,559 Speaker 1: may look bigger than a bottle without. You might feel 36 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:10,000 Speaker 1: like you're getting more bang for your buck, but part 37 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,440 Speaker 1: of that space is just extra glass and air. Most 38 00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:16,639 Speaker 1: bottles hold the standard seven hundred and fifty milliters of wine, 39 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: no matter what the shape. But okay, whyever the punt 40 00:02:22,160 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: was put there? It turns out that it is pretty useful. 41 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 1: You can grip the bottom of the bottle by putting 42 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: your thumb in the punt as you pour a glass. 43 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: This looks elegant assuming you don't drop the bottle, which 44 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:37,440 Speaker 1: I totally have, and helps avoid transferring the heat from 45 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:41,720 Speaker 1: your hand to the wine. And speaking of temperature, the 46 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: punt provides more surface area, which helps some varieties chill faster. Also, 47 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:50,240 Speaker 1: when you're storing bottles on their sides, you can slide 48 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 1: the neck of one bottle into the punt of another 49 00:02:52,680 --> 00:03:00,200 Speaker 1: in order to fit more bottles in a tight spaces. 50 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: Episode is based on the article why does your one 51 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:04,960 Speaker 1: bottle have a dent in the bottom on houstuffworks dot 52 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:07,959 Speaker 1: com written by Kristen Hall Geisler. The brain stuff is 53 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:10,920 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio in partnership with houstuffworks dot com, and 54 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:13,840 Speaker 1: it is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my 55 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 56 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.