1.5L vs 750ml - A Magnum Odyssey
A 1.5 liter bottle isn’t merely the equivalent of two 750 milliliter bottles. Wine tends to age differently in larger bottles; because the mass is greater the wine tends to be more buffered from outside forces (like variations in temperature, vibration, and light). The chemical reactions that are responsible for the changes in the wine – what we recognize as aging – are slower and more consistent. Consequently, wines in larger bottles usually evolve more slowly and gracefully. A 1.5 liter bottle of 2004 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir, if stored under good conditions, could outlast a 750 ml bottle by five or ten years, meaning that this bottle could be drinking beautifully in twenty years or more.