Champagne without the mushroom cork?

Fascinating article in Time magazine about the increasing use of alternatives to the classic Champagne cork, including a version of the crown cap. It was only a matter of time...
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1899068,00.html

I asked my Prosecco di Valdobbiadene producer about crown corks but it's against the rules there, sadly

[David M. Bueker]

I would support crown caps on many NVs and Champagne alternatives (e.g. Cremant).

As a home wine maker who makes bubblies, it is a tough choice. For those not aware of it, Champagne corks are straight before inserted into the bottle and attain their mushroom shape after being in the bottle. I have a special corker that allows me to do this. However, purchasing the corks in small quantities is almost impossible. That leaves the plastic champagne stoppers. They seem to work well enough and I've never lost pressure with them. However, there seems to be a "cheap wine" stigma attached to them. How do folks here feel about plastic stoppers in bubblies? A friend I met through another website makes bubblies and finishes his with crown caps and decorates the bottles with a ribbon over the top, secured by a label wrapped around the neck of the bottle. He says he got the idea from a winery in Napa or Sonoma and they are quite attractive.

The Moet et Chandon owned Green Point winery in Australia has been selling methode champenoise fizz closed with crown caps for some years.

Regarding Champagne, I read somewhere that Appellation rules insisted on the traditional mushroom cork and that Duval-Leroy had their knuckles rapped over the (very small) experimental batch released in the Maestro closures.

Many of Napa's NV 187 come with twist caps, which I don't mind at all.

Five years ago I predicted screw-caps on 50% of the wines by now. Boy was I wrong, or was I wrong? There should be screw-caps on at least 50% of the wines now, but we still have corks (which I don't mind) but also, hard plastic objects between us and the product we bought. Good luck trying to get them out. The two part "corks" are a little better, and the composites are OK. Changing Champagne and other sparklers, I think will take a bit longer. For some reason I don't seem to have much of a problem with corked sparklers, and I don't find more than 2-3% of still wines with a problem, but maybe my threshold is lower than other people. If we can get 50%+ of everyday wines under screw-caps don't you think that will solve most (99%) of the problem? I view cork like I do wool or cotton, it is hard to compete with Mother Nature. Cork is a perfect closure (if free of TCA) for the world's most elegant wines (less than 20% of worldwide production). Let's get the screw-caps out there at the level they need to be and take the pressure off the cork producers so they can perfect their product.

Peter writes: The Moet et Chandon owned Green Point winery in Australia has been selling methode champenoise fizz closed with crown caps for some years.

Seppelts are producing their Silverband Grampians Sparkling Shiraz under crown seal these days, too. (Although the Original and Show sparkling shirazes still come with the mushroom cork.) This may be related to the market position of Silverband as 'newer' and 'trendier' brand. Crown seals tend to be seen in the Oz market as somewhat avant garde.

I like crown seals on sparklers. And why not? For much of its life during production, sparkling wine is under a crown seal. This gets replaced by a mushroom cork after disgorgement.

Howie -

In a "homemade" wine, I'd accept a plastic stopper without hesitation. In a commercial wine, such a thing would instinctively get my eyebrows raised. Having some home wine making experience myself, I can appreciate the limitations inherent in the process and I wouldn't think twice about it. With commercial wines, a plastic stopper has virtually always been a danger sign. I'd be happier seeing crown caps on commercial sparklers unless enough high-quality wine comes out under plastic to change my negative association.