Italy has found a clever way around social distancing restrictions when it comes to serving beverages, and the method is one that's actually centuries old. Rather than restrict wine sales altogether, some restaurants in Florence have restored an old method of transporting drinks to patrons: Through a stone window that just big enough for one glass of wine. While these windows were initially used for wine only, they're now being used to pass through beverages such as coffee, mixed drinks, and even ice cream. With restaurants in need of support, these windows are breathing new life into them.
These wine windows have found their new purpose through means of contactless service. Back when they were first used, these windows were a very effective means of containing the spread of illness, according to Independent. Now, they're doing the same job, only with updated cleaning methods in the face of a new virus that has threatened the world.
The History Of Wine Windows
The first-ever recorded use of these tiny windows was in 1643, found in a publication of the Italian newspaper, La Repubblica. The plague was snaking its way through Europe during the 1600s and Florence's invention of these windows was used to pass wine to patrons without any contact whatsoever. Payment for wine would be taken via a metal pallet on which customers would deposit their coins, and then the pallet would be sanitized with vinegar upon being passed back.
There exists in Italy a Wine Window Association, and in a statement written by them, the association said, "Today, during our period of Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, the owners of the wine window in Via dell’Isola delle Stinche at the Vivoli ice cream parlor in Florence have reactivated their window for dispensing coffee and ice cream, although not wine. Two other nearby wine windows, that of the Osteria delle Brache in Piazza Peruzzi and that of Babae in Piazza Santo Spirito, have taken us back in time by being used for their original purpose—socially-distant wine selling.”
As of right now, there are four active wine windows in Florence and several have expanded past serving only wine. Via dell’Isola delle Stinche window owners have opened their for ice cream, served at the Vivoli ice cream parlor and are currently not selling wine through the window. Babae in Piazza Santo Spirito and Osteria delle Brache in Piazza Peruzzi have both opened their windows for traditional purposes - the selling and handing out of wine. The latter is also offering drinks such as an Aperol spritz.
The opening up these windows is being tracked on Facebook and there is undeniable excitement surround the revival of the Florence tradition. Despite its roots, wine windows allow one more means of socially-distant contact in a place where there weren't any prior, making it a positive way to move forward... Especially for wine and ice cream lovers.