The Daily Telegraph

'For too long, half-bottles have been seen as the preserve of either the lonely or the cautious drinker,' says JONATHAN RAY. 'In fact, they are a godsend to wine lovers, often enabling us to enjoy our wine in greater variety and quality (and even quantity) than is possible with fully fledged 75cls.' Ray laments the relative difficulty of finding halves, certainly in the multiples, which prefer screwcapped 25cl bottles and tend to reserve 37.5cl bottles for dessert wines. 'But it is in restaurants that halves really come into their own.' Both Ray and James Palmer of Roussillon restaurant in Pimlico 'can't understand' why they're not more popular with restaurateurs, 'not least because the margins are good and a couple dining together might have three different halves rather than one bottle'.