Several readers have inquired about the use of the silver or silver plated cups known as tastevins that are sometimes used to taste wines. These flat bottomed shallow cups, which are often worn on a ribbon around the neck, originated in Burgundy where professional wine tasters came to the general agreement that it was easier to judge the color of a red wine when it was poured in a shallow layer over the brightly reflecting silver rather than in a glass where it sat in a greater mass. So popular were such implements during the 17th and 18th centuries that even today they remain the acknowledged ceremonial symbol of Burgundy.

Despite their rather romantic history, the tastevin is really a rather useless tool. Because they are broad and shallow they do not allow one to fully appreciate the aroma or bouquet of the wine being sampled, and, if one's lip is even the least bit wet the metallic "taste" of the silver interferes with one's ability to taste the wine itself.

The ideal implements for tasting wine are long stemmed, wine glass, slightly more narrow at the top than at the base that are about 150 mm. high and hold about 215 ml. of wine. For tasting purposes, such glasses should be filled to about 20% of their capacity, as this allows one to swirl the wine vigorously without spilling it in order to releasing the aromas or bouquet. To examine the color of a red wine, all one need do is hold the glass by its stem and tip it towards one side, thus distributing the wine over a broader and more shallow surface. In buying such glasses, keep in mind that the thinner the glass, the more vivid will be the actual flavors of the wine being tasted.

None of this should discourage those who can afford them from buying tastevins, because they are highly valued collectors' items. At an auction at Sotheby's in London, for example, collectors purchased a 17th century Austrian tastevin for 1600 pounds sterling, a 1654 silver English wine taster for 1450 pounds and an early 19th century German silver plated tastevin for 450 pounds.

© Daniel Rogov