Tuscan wines weren’t always sold in the Bordeaux style bottles (Bordolese) we mostly see today.

Since the XIVth century, Tuscan wines were sold in ¾ litre fiaschi, with round bellies and long necks that were known as toscanelli.

A particular straw that was grown near the towns of Poggibonsi and Empoli covered these blown glass containers and served to protect the glass from breakage and to act as a thermal insulator, helping maintain proper storage temperatures.

In Florence, the crossroads between via Della Condotta and via Calzaiuoli was known as the Canto dei Fiascai. These artisans did everything from blowing the glass bottles to weaving their straw coverings.

Il Toscanello was for centuries the symbol of regional quality.

It combined the craftsmanship of the bottle with the bounty of the land, the wine.

Traded once upon a time through the buchette del vino (check out Porticine del vino, Little Wine Doors), it has long been enjoyed in Florence, and the Florentines themselves are proudly attached to its familiar shape