Placomusophilia – the hobby with the interesting name

Sometimes an interest can take over and you cross the line from hobby to nerd. An honorary title in itself, according to yours truly, who has an admiring fascination for these people who go ‘all in’ in an interest. The ultimate sign of exaltation for a hobby is when it gets its own name! So some people call themselves ‘Trekkies’ or ‘Numismatists’ or even ‘Philatelists’.

Not a disease but a perfectly honourable hobby

Of course, there are fandoms even in the Wine World where the one with the coolest name (and narrowest interest) should be Placomusophilia! (Although, admittedly, it sounds more like a disease of the more embarrassing kind than a completely legitimate hobby)
As a placomusophile, you collect the small metal plate that sits at the top of the cork of a champagne bottle. Note, not the cork, not the bottle, but just the small metal plate on top.

More common than one think

Now, you might think that this was a fairly limited group of people who engaged in this little hobby. Nothing could be further from the truth!
On the contrary, in France and the BeNeLux region alone there are over 100 different clubs. Every two years there is also a big world conference where interested people meet and exchange experiences, and, one may assume, also ‘caps’ There are in the Champagne area alone over 30,000 different caps, so it takes some time to get a complete collection.

The network

Of course, there are also subgroups. For example, those that specialize in a particular Champagne house. I have to admit, that extra points of honour should almost be awarded to those who can make a narrow interest even narrower in this way.
For the curious, there are both buy and sell pages like this or instructive YouTube videos. Or why not admire this painting created from 37 000 small tiles.
Of course, I totally support this interest by continuing to buy sparkling bottles and if anyone wants to, I am more than happy to give away the small metal plate to interested collectors.

Maria Scharffenberg
Sommelier and Teacher