Some years ago in this column, I wrote about the importance of the wine glass in getting the most out of a wine.

If you recall, a Chianti was sampled in several different types of glasses; a Bordeaux glass, a 6 oz. juice glass, a coffee cup and, yes, a Chianti glass. It was in fact best in the Chianti glass, which brought out the full aromas on the nose and the full flavor of the wine.

It's also true that the size of the bottle affects how the wine ages. You can have half bottles, standard size bottles, and then there are several sizes up — magnums, Jeroboams, and so on. The rule of thumb: The bigger the bottle, the slower the aging. Given the same size neck and cork, the amount of air that passes through the cork over time doesn't change, so the same amount of air reacts with a larger amount of wine, thus the aging process is slower. The converse is true too. The smaller the bottle, the more air per milliliter, and so the faster the aging process. A wine in a half bottle will go through its infancy, and adolescence, reach maturity, and decline in half the time that it will take for a 750 milliliter bottle.

This was brought home to me in the world of beer this past week, thanks to different-sized bottles of Weihenstefaner Original Premium. One was in the pretty much standard size bottle, the other in a bigger, one pint bottle. Same labels, same alcohol by volume, both made at the same brewery that has been in operation since 1040. They both had the same “brewed under the purity law of 1516” label statement (I wonder if they were annoyed at those new-fangled regulations for their then 476-year-old operation) statement, both imported by Total Beverage Solution of South Carolina.

But there was a difference. Let's try them side by side and see.

Weihenstefaner Original Premium, 330ml/11.2 fl oz (typical beer size bottle). Golden in the glass, frothy white head, lots of carbonation. Hints of cloudiness (less filtering?). Medium hops nose, not much malt evident. The palate is bright, with hops dominating, citrus, then a good dose of grain, not much development. Grainy finish, with the hops in the background.

Weihenstefaner Original Premium, One Pint (bigger bottle). The color is identical — golden, though less carbonation, same frothy white head. Lighter nose compared to the smaller bottle, hints of hops. The palate is more rich and complex, with malt flavors more evident, citrus, grain, bread hints, more weight. Longer finish, deeper finish. The ironic thing here is that the beer from the larger bottle is clearer, and looks like it's been through more filtering, but it also has more flavor than its cloudier counterpart.

Now, I observe that in the bottom right hand corner of the front label, the small bottle says “Lager — Ale in Texas” while the larger bottle, in the same spot says “Malt Liquor.” I checked the Weihenstefaner website, and they make no differentiation between “lager” and “malt liquor,” which leads me to suspect that the difference lies in the bottle size.

For my money, the big bottle is the one to go with. It's at Berts Better Beers, The Meat House and Market Basket. And, knowing that no matter what the bottle size, wine does develop under cork, Wendy came home with a bottle of 90+ Zinfandel tonight. I opened one toward the end of June and told you about it here.

Here's the June 2012 tasting note, for comparison:

“2009 Sonoma County, 90+ Zinfandel, Lot 54, 15% abv. Just a reminder to be careful to check the Lot number when you buy these. If there is more than one kind of a particular varietal, like the Malbec, it may make all the difference. This Zin was a medium intensity red, good fruity nose, berry fruit, dry palate, good acidity, good tannin, a little insistent on opening, but it smooths out, medium body, medium-plus flavor intensity of red fruit, red berry, hints of spice in the background, long berry finish. 86 pts.”

And, three months later, on Sept. 23: Medium hue red Zin again, medium at the core too, nose of red fruit as above, but now there's some graphite too giving it some real depth, medium body, very good acidity, the tannin is again tooth coating, but dies down and integrates well with a little air, the flavors are of medium strength, showing red fruit, red berry, leaning toward red currant and some plum hints, raspberry, and the graphite is noticeably there. The alcohol is well balanced from stat through finish. Medium length finish, with the red berry coming to the fore. More complexity this time. 88 pts. Wine. It's a beautiful thing

Contact local beer and wine writer Jim Beauregard at regardingwine@aol.com.