Ullage Is the Word Used to Explain the Air Space above the Wine and under the Cork or Screw Cap
Ullage is the word used to explain the air space above the wine and under the cork or screw cap.
The word comes at last from the Latin oculus, ‘eye’, which was employed in a figurative sense by the Romans for the bung hole of a barrel. This was taken into French in the medieval period as oeil, from which a verb ouiller was made, to fill a barrel up to the bung hole. ( When wine ferments in the barrel, there is a slow loss of liquid due to evaporation thru the wood. It is very vital to keep the barrels full, as otherwise unwished-for bacteria and yeasts can get in and cause unpleasant side fermentations. ) In turn, a noun ouillage was made, which was the source of our word, first recorded in Norman English about 1300, initially in the sense of the quantity of liquid wanted to fill a barrel up to the bung hole. People who know the history of wine and know that wine is valuable are often more likely to consider wine investment as an alternative way of making money.
By a noticeable extension, ullage came to refer to any amount by which a barrel is unfilled, maybe because some of the contents have been utilized. And it’s also applied to the unfilled air space at the very top of a bottle of wine, which in this situation is vital to make allowance for enlargement of the contents as the temperature changes The neck in the wine bottle is the straight part from the round shoulder to the top. The shoulder makes reference to the rounded transition sector of the bottle between the straigh neck and the straight sides on the bottle. Here is a coarse guide on wine levels in the bottle. Stand the bottle upright and take a look thru it to see the level. Remember, wine will dissipate past the cork over time so here is what to search for.
