Regular readers will know all about Florence’s The Wine Talks this summer. Writing about wine is part of my job, visiting cantine and interviewing winemakers. But the bread and butter of my work is reporting on Florence: sadly, in recent months more and more headlines have emerged about the city’s Gen Z falling prey to the effects of alcohol. So, at the start of the summer, when Ruffino winery and the Municipality of Florence showed their enthusiasm to launch a responsible drinking campaign through focusing on wine as culture, The Florentine wholeheartedly embraced the initiative.
Wine educator Filippo Bartolotta (left) talks about his life as a sommelier, with Ruffino’s Francesco Sorelli (centre) and The Florentine’s Helen Farrell (right)
The Ruffino Cares responsible drinking campaign consists of a weekly wine talk every Wednesday in central Florence’s piazza dei Tre Re focusing on themes such as wine and libido, the history of Italian wine, the Medici, the Tuscan wine doors and the Fiorentina football club. Guest speakers to date have included wine educator Filippo Bartolotta, the Consul General of the United States of America in Florence Benjamin Wohlauer, Cristina Franchini of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Tommaso Rosa of the Comune di Firenze, uro-andrologist Nicola Mondaini, Italian actor Fulvio Cauteruccio, art historian Daniela Cavini and actor Ciro Masella, all moderated by Ruffino and The Florentine. The campaign has proven a runaway success, with spin-off Ruffino Cares events at Florence Folks Festival, MusArt, the Firenze Jazz Fringe Festival and Cookstock in Pontassieve.
On September 5, Florence Drawing Club painted the piazza; on September 12 “Girl in Florence” Georgette Jupe chats about her love of wine and on September 26 the popular Storytellers Florence group relates stories about wine.
Georgette Jupe of the Girl in Florence blog reading “The Florentine” with husband Nico / ph. Christine Juette Photography
Please join us over a glass! Events are free, but numbers are limited.
