Pandemic Revives Italy's Renaissance-Era Wine Windows

The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a new fascination with medieval 'Wine Windows.' In Florence, the Buchette del Vino, a cultural association, explains that wine producers initially used these windows to sell wine directly to consumers - by the bottle, glass, or flask. During the 17th century plague outbreak in Italy, the windows played a different role: enabling safe transactions. In the early 1600s, Italy faced a plague outbreak, and people recognized the need for quarantining and social distancing. To minimize risk, wine windows were used alongside disinfecting practices, allowing patrons to enjoy wine without fearing a deadly illness - and avoiding a grim encounter with a bubonic plague body collector.