The tastevin: the sommelier's silver cup

The short answer: a tastevin is a small, shallow silver cup that winemakers in Burgundy used to taste wine in their cellars, long before electric light. Its shiny, dimpled inside catches the light of a candle, so you can judge a wine's colour and clarity in the dark. Sommeliers later wore it on a chain as the sign of their trade.

Where the tastevin comes from

The name says it: taste-vin, “taste the wine” in French. In a cold, dark Burgundy cellar, a winemaker would draw a little wine from the barrel into the cup and hold it to a candle. The polished silver threw the light back through the wine.

Burgundy still honours it. The Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, a wine brotherhood founded in 1934 in Nuits-Saint-Georges, has its home at the Château du Clos de Vougeot. Every year its tasting, the Tastevinage, chooses Burgundies that may carry the brotherhood's own label.

What the shape does

• Wide and shallow: a small splash of wine spreads thin, so you read its colour at a glance.
• Dimples and ridges: they catch the light from many angles and show it back through the wine.
• Silver: it reflects light well and is easy to keep clean.
• A small handle or thumb rest: you hold the cup without warming the wine.

How to use a tastevin

• Pour a small splash, about a tablespoon.
• Tilt the cup toward a light and look at the colour against the silver, then at the clarity.
• Smell it. The open cup doesn't hold aromas the way a glass does, so this part is brief.
• Taste, then rinse the cup with water and dry it with a soft cloth.

Do sommeliers still use one?

Rarely to taste. A glass shows aroma far better, and cellars have lights now. Today the tastevin is mostly a symbol: you see it in Burgundy cellars, at wine-brotherhood ceremonies and on the chain of some sommeliers. It makes a beautiful gift for anyone in the trade. For the other symbol sommeliers wear, see the sommelier pin.

Questions people ask