Plaque de Muselet
The Plaque de Muselet (known as “agraffe” in German) refers to the metal wire structure or metal cap that holds the champagne cork in place on top of the sparkling wine bottle. In French, it is also simply referred to as muselet.
Since the sparkling wine in the bottle is subject to high pressure (between 5 and 6 bar), the cork needs to be secured with this wire structure to prevent the cork from shooting out uncontrollably. The agraffe is opened by twisting the wire manually.
The agraffe also holds the small metal cap (also called “capsule” or “plaque de muselet” in French) that is directly on top of the cork. Sparkling wines sealed with a cork and agraffe are subject to the so called sparkling wine tax (Sektsteuer) in Germany.
Our plaques de muselet are individually designed and vary within our range of sparkling wines.
Collecting the muselets (the small metal caps) has become a passion for us. We now have several thousand pieces that remind us of special moments of enjoyment with wonderful people. We affectionately refer to this collecting passion as Placomusophilia.