Colors of glass in wine bottles

A friend asked me about the different colors of wine bottles. I understand that the color of the glass in a wine bottle inhibits the wine's deterioration caused by the infiltration of sun/light into the bottle. But is there any reason why wine bottles come in so many different colors? Is it tradition or marketing or something else?

Is it tradition or marketing or something else?

Yes, of course!

Green and brown both filter out many of the shorter wavelengths. Clear looks prettier. And especially in Europe, "What Grandpa did" is very important.

John <cheerfully awaiting many scornful corrections>

John - you are quite correct about filtering out light that causes light strike.

And, yes, tradition/marketing (the two are not unrelated) is important. Regions in Europe tend to use the same colours, and it may even be specified in local rules in some case. I suppose there is is/was also a practical aspect in using the same colour glass if you think in terms of bottle reuse and recycling, and larger production runs if bottles are purchased locally.

Clear is mainly used for rosé wines - where the colour is important for selling the wine.

Over in the beer world, only dark brown bottles appear acceptable for filtering out the wavelengths that lead to "skunking". Even green bottles aren't adequate, as any Pilsner Urquell fan can attest. Wonder if there is any science on the effects of light on wine flavors (I hear anecdotal comments...).

There is something about blue wine bottles that makes my skin crawl. Having said that, Aveleda, a large producer of Vinho Verde (Casal Garcia is one of their brands) uses very lightly blue tinted bottles that manage to evoke an expectation of a fresh, bright wine (as young VV usually are).

Over in the beer world, only dark brown bottles appear acceptable for filtering out the wavelengths that lead to "skunking". Even green bottles aren't adequate, as any Pilsner Urquell fan can attest. Wonder if there is any science on the effects of light on wine flavors (I hear anecdotal comments...).

Interesting observation, Joe, and I wonder if it is transferable to wine.

Yes there is science, and yes it is very applicable to wine. I tried to hint at it in my last post, but was a bit too busy to dig out the link at the time. And I didn't notice that John was talking about both green and brown bottles either, or I would have mentioned at the time that brown ones are a lot better. Here is probably more information on the subject than you care to know:
http://www.wrap.org.uk/document.rm?id=5388

Over in the beer world, only dark brown bottles appear acceptable for filtering out the wavelengths that lead to "skunking". Even green bottles aren't adequate, as any Pilsner Urquell fan can attest. Wonder if there is any science on the effects of light on wine flavors (I hear anecdotal comments...).

There is something about blue wine bottles that makes my skin crawl. Having said that, Aveleda, a large producer of Vinho Verde (Casal Garcia is one of their brands) uses very lightly blue tinted bottles that manage to evoke an expectation of a fresh, bright wine (as young VV usually are).

A few years ago, I came across a study someone had conducted where beers in clear, green and brown glass bottles were subjected to varying amounts of sunlight and different temperature ranges. The green did have some effect in preventing skunking, but the brown was much better. Joe references Pilsner Urquell as a beer with skunking problems despite being in a green bottle. So can anyone explain to me why Corona bottles in clear glass? That stuff has about ten minutes from bottling before it skunks off.

I believe there is a similar effect with wine, but I cannot identify the compound that goes off - in beer I know it is the hops.

Some might find the following link interesting,
http://www.wrap.org.uk/downloads/UV_win ... b.5388.pdf

Salute

Some might find the following link interesting,
http://www.wrap.org.uk/downloads/UV_win ... b.5388.pdf

Almost as interesting as the one I gave, but I did get that feeling of deja vu

I believe there is a similar effect with wine, but I cannot identify the compound that goes off - in beer I know it is the hops.

In wine it is more complex then one ingredient "going off". See section 3.1 of the wrap.org.uk PDF.

Sorry Steve.

Salute