Tuscan tradition of ‘wine hole’ hits New York

The Florentine custom of selling wine through a hole-in-the-wall has been applied in New York by a popular Williamburg bar.

The venue, called Please Tell Me, has made the move as an opportunity to get around licensing law when private events shut down the interior of the restaurant and bar.

According to The New York Post, the bar has begun trials from this weekend (April 10) using closed glasses to get around the ban on open glasses of alcohol in public.

Serving Merlots, Syrahs and other varieties, the wine window has been made as a way to increase revenue when it is shut,

Speaking to the Post’s Side Dish, owner  Eric Griego said the bar wanted to do “something kitsch” and came up with the idea for the window.

Winyl

Griego opened the restaurant with Austin Woolridge last year, and the DJs also host a ‘winyl Wednesdays”, where wine and vinyl combine and the venue showcases lesser known wines such as Japanese Syrahs or Merlots from Mexico.

Prices at the window will range from US$9 for a ‘house wine’ and between US$10 and $15 for organic wines in sealed cups.

Griego added the cups were “these kinds of kookie sealable containers that look like wine glasses”.

In addition, and in order to not break state laws, customers will have to buy a small bite to eat alongside the wine, including charcuterie-style sandwiches.

Florence

The concept of the wine window arrived in Florence in the 17th century when the city was hit by the Plague, and was again put in place and popular across a lot of on-trade outlets globally during the pandemic, including in New York.

In 2015, the Associazione Buchette del Vino was set up in Florence, and around 150 currently exist in the Italian city, with around another hundred or so scattered around the winder Tuscan region.

“It was kind of like quarantine before quarantine, and we are kind of paying homage to that,” Griego added.