To me, this indicates that the pattern of wine drinking has changed over the years, not the quantity. "A glass of wine with you, sir" was a friendly thing to s

To me, this indicates that the pattern of wine drinking has changed over the years, not the quantity. "A glass of wine with you, sir" was a friendly thing to say at the table, and resulted in both parties filling and downing an entire glass. The small glasses seem to be a way of carrying that on over the course of a large meal with a dozen people without any of them actually dying. Accounts of those meals also talk of going through around 2 bottles of wine per participant. In the article photo, the bottle looks about the same as it does today.