Today, I managed an all-Italian purchase. No English. No gesturing. Just straight up cake-ordering at the local pasticceria.
Feeling emboldened with my mastery of simple vocabulary, I decided to venture into a funny wine shop I noticed open up across the street from the bakery. I was buying the cake to bring to Thanksgiving dinner, so I thought it might be nice to bring a bottle of wine as well.
“Hello! I’d like some white wine, please.”
After a few questions, we established that it should be dry, not sweet, and that I wanted a bottle.
“A liter and a half?”
The prices were cheap, so sure- why not? A liter and a half.
That’s when she got the bottle…. the old water bottle. She walked over to a vat and filled that sucker right up.
Not *exactly* the kind of bottle I envisioned bringing to the table.
For reasons totally beyond comprehension, my lovely hosts didn’t get around to serving this particular bottle so I was able to take the bad boy home.
She ain’t fancy looking, but for 2 Euro, it’s actually quite a nice pinot.
Next time I’ll know to BYOJ to the Italian wine store:
Bring Your Own Jug
Hahaha!!! I love this story!! 🙂
Whoo hoo! Look at you, Italiana 🙂 I’m so proud of you, even if you did drink wine out of a water bottle.
How’s that ankle, by the way?
XXo,
Neekoh
Perhaps you are expected to return the bottle? I remember drinking a soda pop from a road-side stand in the Philippines many years ago. The vendor didn’t want us to walk away with the bottles because they’re reused. They were glass bottles though. But hey, if you can get more than one use out of a plastic bottle, so be it! 😉
There is a wine shop like that here in Sicily that I love! It is always inexpensive, but the wine is usually wonderful! I often buy a big jug and then bottle it in glass at home so it’ll keep longer. (in plastic the wine goes bad quickly). I will miss that wine shop when we move!
File under: Things I Never Would Have Known. Wine in plastic bottles goes bad quickly? I will have to get some glass bottles!
Where are you moving? Home?
Definitely get glass bottles, and the VacuVin wine stops, too 🙂 I’ve got this down to a science! LOL
We are moving back to San Diego, CA. California is home, but I’m from the Central Coast, San Luis Obispo, CA.
This cracks me up! I can certainly relate to this type of experience.
D
BTW: We call that “vino sfuso” up here. I loosely translate it to mean wine on tap. It’s never a favorite.
I love your blog! I fell in love with Rome in 2007 on my honeymoon. BOY do I wish I could have been there before my honeymoon 🙂 My dream is to move to Italy…maybe one day! I will have to get rid of my husband first….jk …:) WINK
That’s too funny! I didn’t know you could buy wine like that in Rome. When we are there we usually just buy it in a grocery store by the bottle 🙂 But I now know where the “house wine” in the restaurants probably comes from 🙂
I live in Indianapolis, but have a friend from Sardegna (Sardinia) who was telling me that his family does this (as do many of the farmers from his area). I just wouldn’t have thought that there would be a place in a major city like that!! Hmm… maybe I should open a shop like that here in Indiana… 😉
I confirm ! We are 100% OK. le-boin-coin is a nice case.
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I will be going to Rome in April. I am on a very small pension. Could you please tell me the name and address of this wonderful place where you bought the inexpensive, but good wine? Also, could you give me the name of some good cheap restaurants, trattorias and osterias? I hear that the lamb in Italy is delicious. Do you have any recommendations? Thank you very much. Sincerely, Dolce
Hi Dolce, there are many many places to buy vino sfuso in Rome. The one I go to now if I need some table wine is at the Testaccio market. However, you can find them depending on where you are staying.
For an affordable lunch, I would also recommend Mordi e Vai in the same market. Or Pastificio near the Spanish Steps has a pasta plate with a small glass of wine for €4