The wine windows: little hatches on the walls
The wine windows in Florence are a peculiarity unique to our city. They can also be found in other parts of Tuscany though. They are small arched openings made in the façades of ancient buildings, often near the large entrance door. Most of the wine windows go unnoticed even by the keenest observers or are hastily mistaken for tabernacles. This seems incredible, because there are so many of them! Indeed, most are prominently displayed on the Renaissance palazzi that are the pride of the city, along the streets traveled daily by thousands of tourists. It is estimated that there are 184 wine windows in Florence, 110 in the rest of Tuscany, and 110 that have disappeared through out the centuries. From these small windows the Florentine noble families sold the wine produced in their vineyards, especially in the Chianti region. In fact, they usually traded their wine on a large scale. Nevertheless, the leftovers were brought to the city palace and sold locally.
Fantastic Florence: the wine windows’ pioneer!
More precisely, the palace cellar servants handled direct sales. At a set time, customers would knock or ring a bell, request the desired type of wine, and the count or marquis wine steward would hand it through the small hatch after receiving payment. I’ve been showing to my clients the wine windows in Florence for decades. They certainly are one of the highlights of my Florence Food and Sightseeing Tour! The wine windows in Florence became quickly so famous all around the world, that now you can find many of them open to sell wine on the streets of downtown. However, you should take a look at this video, showing me on national TV many years ago before the wine windows in Florence got to be so notorious. And way before the world-wide success of All’Antico Vinaio, the famous sandwich shop! Back then I used to do my “Vinaino Tour “for locals and Florentine people. “Vinaino” in Italian is actually the street wine vendor.
The wine windows during the plague
A significant incentive for the opening of new wine windows was the bubonic plague epidemic that spread through the Grand Duchy of Tuscany between 1630 and 1633. Actually, to prevent the uncontrolled contagion of the disease, measures were taken regarding the distribution of food and beverages. In fact, to avoid dangerous gatherings, they were not to be sold through the small hatches. Consequently, with the doors of inns and taverns shut for a long period, the only legal way to obtain wine was to purchase it through the wine windows. In May 2020, during the first lockdown that shut down businesses across Italy due to the coronavirus pandemic, some long-forgotten wine windows found a new life. Having fallen completely out of use since the 1950s, they were reopened by the owners of some bars and restaurants, respecting the social distancing measures required by the law. Nowadays you find many “buchette del vino” (wine windows) in Florence, and a few of them sell wine like in the past centuries!