The Wine Knows

As I'm preparing my report on Northwest Pinot Noirs for the Spring issue of Wine Press Northwest, I have been flummoxed by more than a few Oregon wineries who list their case production of Pinot Noir in six-bottle "cases."

I don't get this. Six bottles of 750 ml bottles make a half-case of wine, not a case.

At first, I thought it was just one or two wineries, but enough are listing their case productions this way to call it a trend. A disturbing trend.

Now, I've had to spend a lot of time going back to make sure all my numbers are correct. And even though it's simple division (divide by two), forcing me to do additional math is never safe. That's why I was a journalism major.

The only sensible reason I can think of for listing case production in "six-bottle cases" is to make it seem as though the wineries have more wine than they actually do. Even that doesn't make sense.

Anybody have a better explanation?