B.

Sometimes seen hanging symbolically from a chain around a sommelier’s neck, a tastevin is a silver, shallow-sided tasting cup. Tastevins were invented for use by cellar masters sampling wine in dark cellars since the cups are more portable and less fragile than glass. More important, they have circular indentations in their sides that reflect candlelight across their metal bases and make it possible to determine, in a dark cellar, the clarity of a wine just drawn from a barrel.