I’m trying to hone my skills and make more sparkling wines, and I’ve currently got a 3-gallon batch of cider that I plan to prime and bottle soon. I want to properly cork this – not with caps, and not with those plastic stoppers I’ve not previously enjoyed using –which I’m not getting a lot of good info on.

There’s a specific cork for champagne bottles, #13, which is super wide that expands to prevent gas from escaping during carbonation after being compressed and squeezed into the bottle with a floor corker; this is not available at my local homebrew store, and the few online listings I’ve found for them are relatively expensive and have a few reviews along the lines of “this was too big for my bottle” or “this is only for such-and-such type of bottle.” In retrospect, I’ve wondered whether I actually need “champagne” corks, since I have cages and standard #9 corks are still wider than the mouth of the champagne bottles I’m using.

Is there anyone here who has experience actually corking sparkling wine and could offer tips? Can you use #9 or Belgian beer corks for this, or do you have to have proper Champagne corks? Is size that important if you have a cage to hold the cork in place?