Tastevin

This is my bargain of yesterday's flea market. It's a silver tastevin - that's a rather whizzo piece of equipment used by sommeliers and cellar masters to examine wine for quality. This tastevin is shaped in the traditional manner, with a convex bottom, the shallow curving sides dotted with large and small and curved gadrooning. The shape, combined with the sheen of the silver, allows the colour of the wine to be fully appreciated in dark environments like a cellar or a candlelit room. The curved sides help concentrate the aroma, so only a very small amount of wine has to be poured from the bottle to judge quality. The looped handle allows the tastevin to be worn suspended from a chain. Apparently tastevins with round thumbpieces are generally from the Paris region. You put a little wine in the bowl of the tastevin, then you swirl it to aerate it. The shapes punched into the silver add to the aeration.

It's difficult to find silver ones - much more usually you come across more modern light-weight stainless steel examples. So imagine my delight when I paid the princely sum of just 5 euros for it. I think the seller hadn't noticed the miniscule Christofle hallmark on handle and it was very tarnished. But hasn't it come up a treat?