The story
Take a moment to stand here on the corner of Via Tornabuoni and Piazza degli Antinori, surrounded by the elegant fashion houses and the towering, rusticated stone walls of one of Florence’s most prestigious palaces. As you look at the grand entrance of Palazzo Antinori, a masterpiece of Renaissance architecture, I want you to lower your gaze. Look toward the base of the wall, just about waist-high.
There, set into the massive grey stones, you will see a tiny, arched opening, no bigger than a piece of stationery, framed by a delicate stone border. This is a buchetta del vino—a wine window. While it looks like a charming architectural quirk today, these little portals are unique to Tuscany, and they tell a fascinating story of survival, clever business, and ancient social distancing.
In the early 1600s, the great noble families of Florence, including the Antinori family who still own this palace, were not just politicians and bankers; they were some of the largest landowners in Tuscany. They produced vast quantities of wine on their country estates. To avoid the heavy taxes of selling through local taverns, they cut out the middleman.
They carved these small windows directly into the walls of their city palaces to sell wine by the flask to the people on the street. But the buchetta took on a much more vital role in 1630, when the bubonic plague swept through Florence. Just like we experienced recently, the city had to figure out how to keep commerce flowing without spreading a deadly contagion.
The wine windows were the perfect solution. A customer would knock on the wooden shutter, and the cellarman inside would open it. To avoid physical contact, the buyer would place their coins on a metal tray, which the seller would then dip into a bowl of vinegar to disinfect the money.
The wine was passed out through the window, often already in a flask, ensuring that not a single hand touched another. As you stand here today, imagine the quiet streets of the 17th century, the smell of vinegar in the air, and the clink of coins against stone. For centuries after the plague, these windows were forgotten, many filled with cement or used as mailboxes.
It wasn’t until the global pandemic of 2020 that several of them were reopened, serving wine, gelato, and coffee once again in a beautiful echo of the past. There are over 150 of these windows hidden throughout the city, but the one here at Palazzo Antinori is one of the most iconic. It represents a family that has been making wine for twenty-six generations.
When you look at this little arch, you aren't just looking at a hole in the wall; you are looking at the resilience and the legendary hospitality of the Florentine spirit. Keep your eyes peeled as you continue your walk—once you see your first wine window, you’ll start finding them everywhere.