Hi everyone, I saw a picture of Rick in Italy filling a bottle with wine at a "wine filling station." I searched the web to determine if this is common or unusual since we think it is definitely something we would try since you "can't do it at home." I haven't found much info. Is this a common thing at most Supermercatos? Any info would be welcome. We will be in Northern Italy for this trip. Kaye
Folsom, CA
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32750 posts
Yup, much wine in Venice is distributed by funnel and reused bottle. I was eating cicheti last week and observed this again first hand.
Posted by
Oakdale, CA, USA
38 posts
The wine stores are usually small and are called "vino sfuso", literally meaning loose wine. It is strictly BYOB and the wine is straight from the barrel. Ask around to find these shops as they are generally not advertised much. You can walk around Venice with an empty water bottle and fill up whenever you want!
Posted by
Genesee, ID
1840 posts
Boy, would I be in trouble!
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23267 posts
Just stick you head into any wine shop. If they have bulk wine generally you will see a back wall or a row of big barrels of wine. You can sample the different wines. And they will also sell reusable bottles with a pressure or locking cap. A two liter jug is not uncommon.
Posted by
OP
Folsom, California, USA
316 posts
Awesome!! thanks e eryone. Once I searched vini sfusa, I got lots of locales. Can't wait...might even invest in a better "water" bottle. Kaye
Posted by
Fort Wayne, IN, USA
2349 posts
"Just stick you head into any wine shop." You mean you don't even need a bottle?!
Posted by
Wiesbaden, Germany
791 posts
It's how we buy almost all of our wine here, it's very cheap (about 2 euros per liter). Most vinyards/enotecas sell wine this way as well, mostly for locals. I've been at at a local vinyard buying wine and seen local yokels walk up with what looked like 5 gallon gas cans and fill them up. The place we buy from in our town always has empty plastic water bottles so we don't bother bringing any and they work just fine. In places like Venice they are not likely to have any bottles so in a pinch you can empty out a plastic water bottle and use that. Keep in mind that most wine sold this way is not the higher quality wine you would buy in stores, it's mostly generic stuff like cabernet, chardonnay, merlot, etc. Prosecco is popular but the prosecco you buy from the sfuzo places will taste nothing like the prosecco you buy in bottles in stores or restaurants.
Posted by
Vancouver, BC, Canada
175 posts
The first time we used the 'filling station' we got a tad excited and overbought - big plastic containers of both red and white. Stored them in the kitchen and over the course of a few warm to hot days we noticed a proliferation of fruit flies and an increasingly off taste to the wine. Luckily, the stuff was so cheap we had no qualms about dumping it out! And, yes, the quality of the wine is not up to any
wine maven's standards - plonk for sure!