Tuscany Wine Windows

By. Mallory Bachmann

Osteria Belle Donne was one of the first wine windows to re-open their doors after most windows closed in the late 1900s.

Tuscan Wine Window

Italy is known for their fine wines and collection of cocktails such as aperol spritz. But with long restaurant waits and crowded seating, visitors can find it difficult to enjoy a drink. If you are visiting parts of Tuscany no need to worry. The historic Tuscany wine windows allow customers to purchase drinks and sometimes food from these little openings in the walls found around the city.

The wine windows appear arched in shape. They are small and simply designed, featuring a small wooden hatch that can feature religious paintings. While there is still a large number of wine windows located in the city of Florence, most have been permanently closed or blocked off.

Throughout history these windows have also been referred to as “Sportellos” or “Buchettas.” While sportellos are most popular in the Tuscany region, especially Florence, Pisa and Siena, they have a rich history to all of Italy.

You can expect to find a line at Osteria Belle Donne throughout most of the day. The window is tucked in an ally way surrounded by shops and designer stores.

Wine Window History

While these windows may seem silly to experience and take pictures of, many Italians relied on these windows as a way to purchase wine and make an income during the plague. The first ever Tuscan wine window opened during the Bubonic plague in the 17th century.

The Bubonic plague, also known as the black death, had a major impact on the city of Florence. Before the plague hit, Florence was one of the most crowded cities in the western part of Europe. The black death would soon take out about 50% of this population.

When the plague hit, Italians were careful on limiting the number of people allowed in their homes. However, with most noble families of Florence relying on selling their wine as a way to make a living they had to come up with a solution.

Around the 1600s, Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo I de’ Medici allowed these families to build the wine windows in order to sell their product. The sportellos only needed to be large enough to hand a flask through, which protected the families from catching and spreading the plague.

Here is the process of receiving your drink from the wine window. Most workers will not even still their head out, but rather just an arm to hand over the wine.

Even after the plague ended, wine windows continued to be used well into the 1970s, where most were then destroyed due to the floods of 1966. Wealthy Tuscany families would transport their wine from owned vineyards and store in wine cellars within their homes. These wine cellars would be connected to a tiny window where Italians and visitors could continue the tradition.

Most windows offer a to-go wine glass, which makes it easy to sip and shop.

Wine Windows in Florence

These three different wine windows highlight the designs of the windows throughout Florence. The window on the right, Buchetta del Vino, dates back to the 17th century.

With just a quick web search, you can find the locations of all wine windows around Florence. Most of them can be found within the Santo Sprito neighborhood. This neighborhood has a long history of residing nobles and artisans. It’s urban palaces also make the city a popular place to find these windows.

If you’re wanting to find the most historic or influential windows, you should travel to the city center. Wine windows in this area were owned by the Antinori, Frescobaldi, and Verazzano families. All of these families were known for their wine making at some point in time.

If you are looking for wine windows that also provide food you can try Babae known for their breakfast and appetizers, S-Malto Firenze known for their comfort food or get a glass of wine from the II Latini window while you wait for a famous Florentine steak.

Taylor prefers getting an aperol spritz at the window because it is more refreshing than a glass of wine.

Taylor Saunders will usually stop by the wine window on the way back to her AirBNB. She said she already has pictures of the wine window uploaded to Instagram and people asking her where it is.

“I mainly come to Osteria Belle Donne’s window when I want a drink,” she said.

Osteria Belle Donne also has a long list of food options that you can order inside their restaurant. This included appetizers, main courses and desserts.

Osteria Belle Donne has a restaurant attached to their wine window with a large selection of dinner and lunch meals.

“I think having a wine window attached to a main restaurant is nice because if there is a long wait to eat you can order a glass of wine,” Saunders said.

Modern Day Wine Window

Italian shop owners used the history of wine windows to help them through the most recent pandemic, Covid-19. The phrase “social distancing” was very popular during the pandemic. Businesses were required to limit occupancy and put precautions in place to keep people at least six feet apart.

Before the spread of Covid-19 there was supposedly only one wine window still in active use in Florence. As coronavirus began to spread several opened back up, some with additional purposes.

Owners at the Vivoli ice cream parlor decided to add a window to their shop, but only used it to sell desserts rather than the intended purpose of wine. Other shops such as the Osteria Delle Brache have opened up and continued the tradition of surviving wine and other alcoholic beverages, making it a true “window into history.”

Hayden likes the to-go wine glasses that are given out because they act as a souvenir from the trip.

Hayden Cline, born in the U.S, has been staying in Florence with friends as a post-grad trip, and heard about the wine windows through a social media app called “TikTok.” She said her friends usually stop by the window to grab a drink before going out to bars. Cline was not aware of the history behind these windows but was shocked to hear they became popular during the plague and back into use during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“I feel like if we had wine windows where I’m from during the pandemic it would have definitely helped with lifting spirits and can still be considered social distancing,” she said.

Next time you are visiting the Tuscany area, or other parts of Italy, make sure to stop by one of these windows and get a drink/snack to go! But also remember the importance of the wine window to Tuscany’s history. While it may just seem like a unique experience for an Instagram post, remember that some people relied on these windows for income and drinks during challenging times.