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Percentage decrease in the weight of bottles used by Bordeaux’s 249 members of the Cru Bourgeois du Medoc classification. The new standard for lighter-weight bottles is part of the classification’s larger move toward environmental practices that have a positive impact on biodiversity, conservation, plant protection, fertilizer use, and water management.

A tastevin is:

A. An implement inserted through the bung hole of a barrel in order to draw out wine to be evaluated

B. A shallow tasting cup historically used by winemakers in wine cellars

C. A device for helping to decant a wine until its flavors are very expressive

D. A tasting kit used by Master Sommelier and Master of Wine candidates whereby small amounts of prestigious wines are rebottled to be tasted as part of the candidate’s study program

Silver, shallow-sided tastevins (tasting cups) were invented possibly as far back as the fifteenth century, for use by winemakers who were tasting wines from casks in dark cellars. The cups were more portable and less fragile than glasses would have been. More importantly, they had circular indentations in their sides that reflected candlelight across the metal base of the cup and made it possible to determine, in a dark cellar, the clarity of a wine just drawn from the barrel. Until the 2000s, many sommeliers in Europe and the U.S. hung tastevins around their necks (like necklaces). It’s rare to see a tastevin (pronounced in French as TAS-te-van) being worn by a sommelier today.

Priorat Wine & A Vision of Angels

Spain’s northeast region of Priorat is an unforgiving place, with sweltering days and cold nights. The vines that grow there are old and gnarled, sprouting from a stony, slate-laced soil called llicorella (“licorice”) for its… Continue reading

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