A reader of our Brief had seen an advertisement for a sparkling wine called Bubbly Rosé which was sealed with a regular crown cap (old fashioned beer bottle cap). She wanted to hear more about that.
Actually, a crown cap is in a way an ideal closure for a sparkling wine. Champagne and other sparkling wines made with a second fermentation in the bottle are aged in the producers’ cellars for many years closed with a crown cap. It can in extreme cases be for 10-15 years. Therefore, there is no doubt that this is an excellent and reliable closure.
But who wants to open a bottle of champagne with a beer opener? Champagne and other prestige sparkling wines are probably not ready for a change in that respect. Much of the appeal in them is in the glossy image. But, in fact, the sparkling specialist Pieter Ferreira, winemaker at Graham Beck in South Africa, has plans start using the crown cap as a closure. And on more unpretentious, modern bubbly, from the Loire Valley to California, the crown cap is seen more and more. And why not? It is both cheaper and easier to open.
And, believe it or not, some ten years ago there was a champagne producer who tried to launch a range of champagnes with a very cleverly designed crown cap (see how it looked and worked on our video) but this was blocked by the regulators and the initiative fizzled.
Travel: Travel with us at BKWine on a wine tour to Champagne
