Champagne Corks

The cork is very important for all the wines , but for Champagne , several important details differ . First , the cork in Champagne comes at the end of the ageing process , when other wines can still age with their definitive cork . Champagne wine stays years in the 11 °C cellars with a temporary cap ( not in cork ) . Then comes the riddling phase at the end of wich the dead yeast are frozen and extracted from the bottle ... Then , after injection of the "expedition liqueur" , also called dosage , a precious and very secret 1 cl , comes the real Champagne cork . This Champagne cork , before being forcefully inserted in the bottle , looks much like a regular wine cork , only it is much bigger . In the past , it was inserted manually with rudimentary lever tools . This operation needs to be powerful and precise : The new cork has a diameter of 31 mm and the inside diameter of the bottle neck is 17 mm ... A new cork has a very different shape than the well known used champagne cork [ see on the picture : the new cork on the top , and the used one, on wich you see the imprint of the bottle neck ] . This compressed cork , plus the capsule and muselet (wire) to keep it tight , are why high pressure don't expel both the wine and the cork ...

Comments

[ROBERT NELSON]

Well, I have learnt something today but - go a little further. Trad champagne cork [am now looking at one from Deutz]seems to have two thinner sections, at the bottom where there is contact with the wine, which are laminated to the main body. WHY and HOW IS IT DONE. Have just found this web-site and can forecast many hours of interested viewing. March 2008