In 33 years as a Frenchwoman, I had never uncorked a bottle of champagne — until yesterday. That traditionally male job is now open to le sexe faible with the arrival of the first easy-opening champagne stopper, made of aluminium and plastic.

Instead of wrestling with a reluctant cork, I gently pulled on a discreet gold lever attached to the neck and the bottle of Duval-Leroy Clos des Bouveries snapped open with exactly the right pop and fizz.

There was no cork to shoot out and hit anyone in the face, but racing drivers will still be able to spray their magnums from the podium.

This potential revolution in one of the most rule-bound industries has been given a cautious welcome. Some traditionalists are worried about disappearing bubbles and plastic in contact with their beloved nectar.

The authentic sound was vital for Alcan Packaging. The idea was to find a more reliable alternative to cork, which can spoil wine.

Alcan, which pioneered the successful screw-cap for still wine, has supplied its device to Duval-Leroy, one of the old family-owned champagne firms, to test the market on 2,000 bottles of its premium cuvée.

Bruno de Saizieu, Alcan’s commercial director, said: “At first we tried a screw top but found that the symbolic noise was not there. It was our priority to keep this specific and evocative sound of champagne opening.”

After three years and €1 million (£885,000) in research, they came up with an aluminium device like that on beer bottles. Over it, the bottle neck is gripped by a plastic cover. The attached lever eases the grip, lifts the cap and breaks the seal.

“The opening is very easy and peaceful,” Mr de Saizieu said. “Women will be won over and also airlines and restaurants who need to work safely and quickly. And for men who feel virile, it is still possible to ‘sabre’ the bottle.” That refers to the cavalry tradition of slicing off the head of the bottle with a sword.

The new cap, called a Maestro, does not resolve the problem of how to reseal opened champagne and keep the liquid fizzy. Advocates of the new stoppers point out that the cork is inserted only at the end of the two-year champagne process. During the second fermentation, metal capsules, called couronnes, cap the bottles.

Carol Duval Leroy, who heads the 150-year-old family business which makes 5.5 million bottles a year, said they had wanted to find an alternative.

A spokesman for the Interprofessional Committee, the governing authority of the champagne method, said: “This innovation is undoubtedly going to give a shove to the champagne world.”

Thierry Casco, the Union of French Oenologists president and head of the Pommery champagne cellar, predicted resistance. “When I created the champagne pop [a small bottle drunk through a straw], the Champenois hammered me with criticism,” he said.

Alain Oudea, a grower at Billy-le-Grand in the Marne, said: “The cork is part of our tradition.”

Bernard Burtschy, a columnist for the Revue des Vins de France, said that he was worried by the health aspects of a polymer plastic seal inside the cap in contact with the wine, as well as the effect on taste. He predicted that bubbles would escape.

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