The first free wine fountain was inaugurated in Italy

The first free red wine fountain that people can enjoy 24/7 has been opened in Abruzzo,Italy. The fountain is owned by Dora Sarchese Vineyard, located in Cammimo di San Tommaso, on the road connecting Rome and Ortona. It offers local Abruzzo red wine, made from local grapes from Montepulciano.

“The wine fountain is a welcome, the wine fountain is poetry,” the Dora Sarchese vineyard wrote on its Facebook page. Fausto Di Nella, wine consultant at The Dora Sarchese says that the project began as a partnership between the winery and the organization maintaining the road between Rome and Ortona."We opened this fountain as an important gift for San Tommaso di Cammimo," explains Di Nella. "But it is at the same time a meeting place for wine lovers," he added.

The fountain dispenses locally produced red wine at the touch of a button, much like a standard drinking water fountain. The wine comes from a large barrel that is topped up by the winery staff. The winery claims that the fountain is not a ‘publicity stunt’, and that the fountain is not a place for ‘drunkards’ or ‘louts’, but instead designed to welcome religious pilgrims.

Thousands of pilgrims and tourists make the journey from Rome to Ortona, in order to visit the city’s cathedral where the remains of Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples, are kept. The new fountain is a joint project of the vineyard and the non-profit organization which maintains and promotes the pilgrimage route. Some other fountains in Italy have been used to distribute wine, but only on special occasions such as local festivals. One of the most famous is in Marino, south of Rome; during the town's annual grape festival, for one hour white wine rather than water flows from the taps.