How far to insert champagne / sparkling wine corks? (Some are stuck)

[theshoeshiner]

The last few times I made champagne I used plastic stoppers, which worked fine and popped out by hand as expected. This last time I actually used real champagne corks. When I went to un-bottle the first one, the cork wouldn't pop, and I had to use a corkscrew. The champagne was fine, but I'm trying to figure out what went wrong with the corking. Things I can think of...

• The bottle had been disgorged just 1 week prior, so perhaps the pressure hadn't built back up enough to properly pop?
• The cork was inserted too far (it was about 2/3 of the way in).
• The cork was dry/defective in some way?

Anyone have any guesses?

I have 3 other bottles that I haven't opened. I'll open one in a few days, which means it will have spent about 2 weeks in the bottle after disgorging. Yes, I realize this is not properly aged . It's just to sample with friends. I have a magnum bottle that will be put away to age longer.

 

[turkeylipz]

How long did the plastic corks bottle condition? Should only be 1/2 way in and then wire caged but not sure a little further would be he issue. My money is on the bottle conditioning. I usually give my Belgian ales about a month.