Inventions: cork, bottle, riddling, muselet

Inventions by date

Cork and glass

Cork stoppers were introduced in Champagne in 1685.¹ In 1770 a new bottle appeared, "made of much thicker glass which was therefore much more resistant".¹ The cork was part of the late 17th-century shift that let wine be kept in bottle and become sparkling.¹ Today's closure: corking.

Riddling

Comité Champagne places the invention of riddling racks (pupitres) at the turn of the 19th century, without naming an inventor.¹ Veuve Clicquot says Madame Clicquot invented the riddling table in 1816; this is the house's own claim.² Riddling moves the yeast sediment into the neck of the bottle. See riddling.

Sugar and yeast

In 1837 Jean-Baptiste François, a pharmacist in Châlons, developed a reliable method for measuring the sugar added for effervescence.¹ Comité Champagne credits it with making burst bottles much less frequent.¹ In 1860 Louis Pasteur discovered the yeast that converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide.¹ See tirage.

The muselet

Per the house, Adolphe Jacquesson patented the muselet, the wire hood that holds the cork, in 1844.³ The patent document itself was not consulted.

Cold disgorging

In 1884 Armand Walfard, owner of a Champagne House, invented cold disgorging, dégorgement à la glace.¹ The sediment in the neck is frozen, and the pressure inside the bottle pushes it out.¹ See disgorgement.

Outside Champagne: the tank

The Asti consorzio dates Federico Martinotti's first rapid method of making sparkling wine in large pressure tanks to 1898.⁴ An 1895 patent date is often quoted, but no primary source for it was found. See tank method and the timeline.