Silver-plated Burgundy Wine Taster "Orfèvre" Ø 85 mm, vine leaf thumb rest | Seero

The Burgundian tastevin is the model traditionally used for wine tasting.

It is present in all the wine regions of France with a predominance in Burgundy and the Côtes du Rhône.

The tastevin "Orfèvre" is a top-of-the-range model, with handle and ring welded on a brass base. The deposit of silver applied is of SILVER METAL quality guaranteed by the hallmark of the MA goldsmith. The preparation and finishing of the parts are entirely done by hand.

Seero, Made of France, diameter 85mm, silver-plated metal (goldsmith's work 1st title)

Tastevin, Tâtevin, Tassée or Tasting Cup?

Definition of Tastevin:

Small silver-plated or silver bowl with a special shape, used for wine tasting. Flat-bottomed for white wines, domed bottom for red wines. On the walls of the tastevin, the streaks, torsos or tears and the balls or cupules or cupulettes participate in the examination of the wine.

First appearing at the beginning of the sixteenth century, apogée in the eighteenth century, the word tastevin or tâtevin is derived from the expression to feel a wine, in use in the fifteenth century.

TASTEVIN

Thanks to its specific shape composed of a slightly domed bottom and a perimeter traditionally decorated with tears (streaks) and balls (cupules), the tastevin favours the examination of the colour and degrees of clarity of the wine through the reflective play of cupules and tears or striations in hollows and relief. Tears allow us to look at the white wines, the balls the red wines.

Attached to the outer edge of the tastevin, the thumb serves to keep it horizontal. Each vigneron has its own with its name engraved on the bottom, on the outer edge or on the thumb.

The eye will therefore find something to its liking: the polished silver catches everything from the light and the "liquid hull" that is rotated in the cup delivers the palette of its shades. The reflective background acts as a mirror where the liquid is interposed between the light source and the eye. The record of the wine provides information on its age and state of preservation. However, while young wines must be transparent, this is not the case for quality old wines.

"MIRRORING THE WINE"

The origin of the tastevin, or tâte vin or wine cup, is indistinguishable from that of the vine and wine. It is the instrument par excellence for professionals and connoisseurs. It is used to examine the wine that is going to be tasted. Its shallow depth allows examination by smell by releasing the aromas of the nectar.

Legend has it that the 7 balls and 12 tears that adorn the tastevin mean that wine can be drunk all 12 months of the year and every day of the week.

It was also said in the vineyards that a wonderful tastevin made it possible to know, as soon as the wine was poured, whether the year was good or bad. At the bottom of the cup in question, which dated from the 14th century, was a medallion representing a pope, a pope of Avignon and not a pope of Rome. Depending on whether the pontiff's face was laughing or weeping, the wine was good or bad. The last trace of this tradition was found in Burgundy, shortly before the Second World War. The Magic Mug

"Let the Packing Be Piled Up and Let the Cup Be Well Packed"