The bottle of wine (and champagne) as we know it dates from the 4th century.
Almost all of them have what is called an ass, a hole whose real name is the prick!
Originally, this reinforced hollow was intended to allow the bottle to stand up better.
The blowers were not regular enough to achieve a very stable flat bottom.
All?
No, a very particular bottle has gone down in history for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with wine.
In 1876, the Tsar of Russia Alexander II was a big fan of champagne.
His favorite, the Roederer, from which he buys a large part of the production.
But, a little paranoid and fearing an attack (which will end up happening in 1881 in Saint Petersburg), he demands that the bottle have a flat bottom, so that it is impossible to slip a bomb in his "ass" and that it is transparent to prevent poison from slipping into it.
Making this bottle will be a feat because in Champagne, you have to take into account the pressure in the bottle, which sometimes reaches 8 bars.