You know the deal; the more some folks learn about a topic, the more shortcuts/slang/acronyms/initials/technical jargon can be tossed around. I’m here to help you understand those sometimes mysterious words and phrases, thus – Wine Words Demystified!
This week’s word is Muselet
According to Karen MacNeil‘s The Wine Bible:
The wire cage holding a Champagne cork onto the bottle.
This is a French wine term (from the French museler, “to muzzle.”). Here in the U.S. we refer to a muselet (pronounced mew-zeh-LAY) as the wire thingy;-) It was invented by Adolphe Jacqueson in 1844 !
One of the joys of writing this blog for me, is that I discover so many things right along with you, as I research my topics. I found the following interesting:
- According to Champagne and Security (see link below), it always “takes 6 turns if you do by hand, or 3 if you count full 360 degree turns.” to fully loosen the muselet. I’ve never noticed that before! Have you? The next bottle of bubbly I open, I’ll definitely be paying attention.
- A person who collects champagne capsules (the thin piece of metal between the top of the cork and the muselet is called a “placomusophilie”.
There you have it! The next time you open a bottle of bubbly, pay attention to how many turns it takes to loosen the muselet.
Cheers!
Related articles
- Wine Words Demystified: Fermentation (enofylzwineblog.com)
- Champagne and the mystery of the 6 turns of the muselet (Champagne and Security)