Description: After a visit to the Duomo, we passed by this wine shop on the Piazza Duomo and stopped in for a while. I wanted to get some wine to take home as a gift for some friends, and also to get a bit for myself.
The staff spoke reasonable English (almost everyone in Florence would rather practice their English, it seems) and allowed me to ask questions and learn a bit about Italian wine. I’m not much of a connoisseur, so I didn’t know that Chianti was a more dry, bitter wine, or that dessert wines were mostly white – so the young lady at the counter was very helpful in assisting me. She found out I liked more fruity wines, so she found a few with different price ranges so I wouldn’t embarrass myself by going into sticker shock. My choice was Avignonesi Rosso di Montepulciano – an Italian rosso (red) for about 14 €. I also bought some Italian extra virgin olive oil for 4 €, and some white dessert wine for 6€.
In addition to helping me choose, the staff helped me wrap all my goods so that I’d be able to get them all home in one piece. They also ship around the world, should you want to pay extra and not have to carry the bottles around with you. You could buy Italian wine at the airport, but I wanted to add the extra touch of having bought it in Florence and having the experience and story to accompany my purchase.
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