Vougeot (France) (AFP)

"There was no question that there was no tastevinage": despite the coronavirus, the Knights of Tastevin held Friday at the Château du Clos de Vougeot (Côte d'Or) their 105th tasting, a true Burgundian institution. With 658 bottles of wine, 75 tasters and hydroalcoholic gel.

Only nine per room, the tasters seem lost in the gigantic medieval rooms of the castle, including the majestic Grand Cellier of 400 square meters, which annually hosts the sale of the Hospices de Nuits, little sister of that of Beaune.

On the tables - one per participant, distance requires - six glasses, two spitting seals, a tasting book and a bottle of water alongside a bottle of disinfectant.

10 a.m. The bell rings. Masked sommeliers begin to pour crémants, whites and reds from "anonymous" bottles, dressed in a black velvet robe that reveals only the vintage and the appellation.

Imperial silence reigns. Only the logs are heard - when the tasters aerate the wine in their mouths - the sputum that falls into the buckets and the creaking of the multi-hundred-year-old parquet floor under the footsteps of the waiters.

"The atmosphere is different, it's much more studious," says Thierry Prot, one of the 75 tasters.

Their number has been reduced in order to limit the risks of possible contamination.

- Four minutes per wine -

"Before, there were 250 of us in the Grand Cellier, a moment that is part of the Burgundian institutions," added the former merchant, who said he had participated in around forty tastevinage (pronounce tatevinage, without "s").

"It's a little less convivial," adds this wine merchant in Beaune, not far from there, who regrets in particular that the famous lunch has been canceled. "It was like a third half," he recalls.

"We are no longer alone," confirms Madame the manager of the Château de Clos de Vougeot, Ludivine Griveau, taster since 2001. "There was a lot of discussion between us. It is less spontaneous now. We are a bit restrained ", she regrets. "But it is necessary. We were really afraid that it would be canceled."

"There was no question that there was no tastevinage," says the Grand Master of the Brotherhood, Vincent Barbier, tastevin (tasting cup) around the neck.

"Tastevinage has existed since 1950" (two per year), recalls Arnaud Orsel, Grand Intendant of the Brotherhood. "The 105th edition was to take place on March 6. We pushed back then pushed back again ...", he recalls.

The Knights therefore "did everything" to satisfy the barrier gestures and thus be able to perpetuate the tradition. "All these constraints seemed heavy to me," recalls Mr. Barbier. "But ultimately, it works."

In one day, 658 bottles will have been tasted three times, or 24 to 28 per person, four minutes per wine. A score greater than or equal to 13/20 allows the wine to receive the coveted label "tastevinage" engraved with the coat of arms of the Brotherhood. Generally, around 20% of wines receive this precious seal.

© 2020 AFP