The Origin and Evolution of the Neck Foil
The neck foil, or coiffe, has adorned champagne bottles for nearly 200 years. Initially introduced to hide underfilled bottles, and protect the string muselet from cellar critters. Back when disgorgement and dosage was carried out manually, producers couldn’t guarantee that each bottle would be filled to the brim, which led some shopkeepers to request that the bottles be “dressed” to hide any discrepancies. The coiffe was created, and bottles continued flying off the shelves. One of the first portrayals of the coiffe or bottle neck sleeve, was in Paul Cézanne’s still life of 1905 when this embellishment had been common place for decades.
Paul Cézanne, Pommes, bouteille et chaise, 1905
It has since become an emblematic part of Champagne packaging. In 1999, the EU made neck foils mandatory for all sparkling wines for hygiene and safety reasons. However, with the EU Green Deal in August 2023, the necessity of the neck foil was reassessed, leading to its liberalisation. This has created a lot of controversy in Champagne, and brought up many questions, which all boil down to one key issue:
While some Champagne producers quickly moved to abandon the neck foil, citing ecological concerns, the CIVC is now pushing to make it a mandatory part of the cahier des charges. They argue that consumer studies indicate a strong attachment to the neck foil as an identifier of Champagne. However, this move, like many of the
This Article was originally published on Champagne Every Day
