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Italy Reopens Historic ‘Wine Windows’ To Help Stop The Spread Of Coronavirus

Italy Reopens Historic ‘Wine Windows’ To Help Stop The Spread Of Coronavirus

We'd like one of these installed in our home, please.

Mary-Jane Wiltsher

Mary-Jane Wiltsher

A nifty design feature is making a comeback in Italy - and it's made specifically for serving wine.

Yep, Italian restaurants have reopened their 'wine windows' to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The dinky portals were originally used to serve drinks through during the plague in the 1630s. Pretty clever, right?

The historic windows - or "buchette del vino", as they're known in Italy - were first used during the Black Death by wine sellers to sell bottles and glasses while avoiding direct contact with the buyer.

The windows were originally used to serve drinks through during the plague in the 1630s (
SWNS)

Today, they're back in use for similar reasons, with dozens in Florence being brought back into action.

Cafes and shops are using them to serve coffee, Aperol Spritz and wine to customers who are on the other side - with the safety of a thick ancient wall between them.

Usually found in walls at eye-level or lower, the 'wine windows' are easy to miss - but were an essential design feature for 17th century wine producers.

You can find close to 150 of them dotted around Florence's old city walls, and the Cultural Association for Wine Windows said they are back in use.

Group founder Diletta Corsini said: "It has taken us back in time by being used for their original purpose - socially-distant wine selling."

In other wine-related news, it seems Brits have been drinking their vino all wrong (
Unsplash)

In other wine-related news, it seems Brits have been drinking our wine all wrong.

According to a new study by OnePoll, one of the main errors Brits are making when enjoying their fave tipple is filling the glass up to the top.

You may be topping your wine up to the brim, thinking, surely this prevents me from having to keep reaching for the bottle, right? Well, wrong.

There's a reason why you should be getting your wine to glass rations right and it's all to do with aeration - the process by which air is circulated through a liquid to enhance the taste.

If there's space in your glass, you are able to give it a swirl and allow the aeration to take place, whereas if you've filled to the brim, you'll likely be sipping a wine that hasn't reached its full flavour potential.

And we don't know about you, but that's a no-go by us.

There's varying advice on how high to fill your wine, but a general rule is one-third full for red, one-half full for white and three-quarters full for sparkling wines like prosecco or champers.

Some others say you should only fill your white wine to one-third of the way to stop it from warming up too much in the glass, which also sounds smart.

Featured Image Credit: SWNS

Topics: Wine, Tasty Drink, Food And Drink, travel