For now and for the foreseeable future, social distancing is vital to stop the spread of coronavirus and keep one another safe. However, we also need to somehow establish a “new normal” and try to return to some semblance of living until there’s a vaccine. In Italy, they’ve revived an old tradition during the Plague of using “wine windows” to serve customers. Frankly, it’s genius!
- Wine windows were first introduced in the 1600s. When the bubonic plague was sweeping across Europe, it was a terrifying time. What helps calm your nerves more than a few stiff drinks? That’s when buchette del vino, or wine windows, were introduced. They’re pretty much exactly what they sound like: little hatches in the side of a building through which a drink can be slid while practicing serious social distancing.
- They eventually disappeared from common use. As the Plague was eradicated, life began to return to normal and the wine windows fell into disuse as customers opted for social time together in celebration. However, now that we’re dealing with a new epidemic, it may be time to bring them back.
- The wine windows are making a grand return! “Everyone is confined to home for two months and then the government permits a gradual reopening,” the Wine Window Association website says. “During this time, some enterprising Florentine Wine Window owners have turned back the clock and are using their Wine Windows to dispense glasses of wine, cups of coffee, drinks, sandwiches and ice cream — all germ-free, contactless!”
- The wine you can get from the windows is top of the line. As Matteo Faglia, president of the Wine Window Association, told Insider, “People could knock on the little wooden shutters and have their bottles filled direct from the Antinori, Frescobaldi and Ricasoli families, who still produce some of Italy’s best-known wine today.” Sounds like a great idea to me!
