Wine accessory#Tastevin

The Tastevin ( from the French taster, tater or tester, what the German "sample" corresponds ) is a small, shallow cup-like tasting dish made ​​of metal with a handle and often with a thumb area, which was formerly used for professional sensory analysis of wine. The Tastevin is often worn by tasters and sommeliers on a leather strap or chain around the neck.

Tastevin is in France but also called a pipette, with the out of the bung hole of a barrel, a sample is drawn. Which is a tube made of glass or silver-plated metal, having a metal handle on top. This pipette was the addition of Tastevin.

Use

In the bowl of a mouthful to try end wine is poured. The reflective metallic surface of the asymmetrical relief decoration and its bulges and depressions that allow the taster to assess the color of the wine with varying density in the incident light.

For tasting of sparkling wine or champagne Tastevin is not appropriate because the bubbles can not judge him.

History

Precursor of Tastevin were flat goblets as they were in the BC Mycenaean, Cretan and Anatolian cultures from around 1500 in antiquity and in antiquity in use. These were originally simple cup-like ladles of clay, terracotta and ceramics, but also of wood and metal. With them was from vessels such as amphorae or crater the drink be scooped out. The shell had an elongated handle or a ring through which the index finger could be inserted, so that it was not wet. With this device, the wine was taken out, checked and drinking.

In the 15th century a small cup with smooth or embossed walls was designated as key vin in Burgundy. In Languedoc, the device was Tasson, Tassot, tassette and cup à vin. In England, the first tasting dishes of this type in the 14th century were mentioned. The highlight of the Tastevin was in the 18th century when goldsmiths, the relief- decorated, driven and chased tasting dishes artfully prepared. Often, the names of the owners and a date engraved. Tastevins were intended for professional wine tasters and also had to be robust, as they were used on shopping trips to wine cellars. Therefore, they were mostly made ​​of silver. After 1800, many Tastevins were no longer manufactured.

In Burgundy until the end of the 20th century Tastevins were used in the wine cellar because, unlike in the glass, even in dim and low light can evaluate the clarity and color intensity of wine in them.

Modern sensory tasting methods rely on the test- glass, since one can assess in particular against a white background, the color of the wine and its reflections. (There are special test tubes made ​​of opaque glass that will be used, for example, taste wines, where shades of the wines should not influence the assessment. )

The Tastevin is today valued as cultural and historical gem of wine history. Originals can have an antiquarian value. Especially wine brotherhoods maintain his memory as a traditional tasting device. In Burgundy, a Brotherhood is especially dedicated to the Tastevin, the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin.