Buy a full case and the price per unit drops automaticallyRequest a sample
AccountCart0
All ContainersBottlesJarsCaps & ClosuresPumps & SprayersTubs & PailsJugsDroppersTinsTubesAccessories
Industries
Learn
What goes wrong

The fill was wrong

On this page10
The expensive version is discovered after the glass arrives.

A size that is not authorized

The worst outcome and the most preventable. Twenty-five numbers below three litres and even litres above four, and anything else may not be sold.

The gap between 3 and 4 litres

Catches people who reason that if 3 is allowed and 5 is allowed then 3.5 or 4.5 must be too. The list ends at 3 and the rule starts at 4 in whole litres, and nothing lives between them.

Nominal capacity is not fill capacity

A bottle sold as 750 mL may brim at 790 and look wrong filled to 750, or may struggle to hold it with headspace. The standard is about the contents, not the bottle's name.

Headspace shows on clear glass

Two wines at the same declared volume can look like different quantities on a shelf, and the customer believes their eyes.

Temperature at filling

Wine expands and contracts over a working range, so a line filling accurately in the morning can drift by the afternoon, and the drift is usually toward a short measure.

Check before the mould

If a custom bottle is involved, the standard of fill and the actual fill level are settled at the mould stage and are extremely expensive to change afterwards.

And verify by weight

With the density of the actual wine rather than water. Alcohol content changes density, so a checkweigher set for one product will be wrong for the next.

Even litres means even, not approximately

A 5 litre bag filled to 4.8 is not a 5 litre container filled in even litres. The rule is about what is actually in it, which makes fill accuracy a compliance question at large formats rather than a quality one.

Keep a filled retained bottle per run

Unopened, with its label and its fill level visible. It is the only evidence of what actually shipped, and the question always arrives long after the run.

References

27 CFR 4.72, metric standards of fill for wine. Twenty-five authorized sizes from 3 litres down to 50 millilitres, including 3 L, 2.25 L, 1.8 L, 1.5 L, 1 L and 750 mL. Above that: "Wine may be bottled or packed in containers of 4 liters or larger if the containers are filled and labeled in quantities of even liters (4 liters, 5 liters, 6 liters, etc.)." law.cornell.edu
27 CFR 4.32, mandatory label information for wine. The brand label carries the brand name and the class, type or other designation. The name and address, the net contents and the alcohol content may appear on any label on the container. A sulfite declaration, "Contains sulfites" or an equivalent statement, appears on a front, back, strip or neck label where sulfur dioxide is detected at 10 parts per million or more. law.cornell.edu
Written from 27 CFR 4.32, 4.39 and 4.72, and from the catalog as it stood on 18 October 2026. Wine is federally permitted, separately regulated by every state, and subject to label approval; permits, formula approval and appellation determinations are outside what these pages cover.