This Fountain Provides Free Wine 24/7 in Italy

This is the kind of innovative, forward-thinking public works project we can get behind. We're talking about a fountain that doles out wine to the public, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for free. Yep. Free wine in Italy via the Italian wine fountain.

The Fontana del Vino, as it’s called, can be found in Caldari di Ortona, Abruzzo, and was created primarily to serve pilgrims on the Cammino di San Tommaso. The brilliant project comes from Dora Sarchese Winery, who shared photos on their Facebook page showing a barrel of wine hooked up to the fountain tap. No word on exactly what flows from the spout, but since it’s in the Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC, we’re guessing it’s more than decent.

Before you get any ideas about camping out at the fountain all day, the winery made a few things clear. First, “the wine fountain is a welcome, the wine fountain is poetry.” Second, they don’t want local drunkards taking advantage of their generosity. And finally, they insist this isn’t a publicity stunt — though, honestly, even if it were, who would complain?

Sadly, don’t expect any U.S. cities to adopt a wine fountain anytime soon. Looks like you’ll need to plan your own pilgrimage to Italy. But really… free wine in Italy doesn’t sound too bad, does it?

Via The Local IT