At Giunti Odeon, in the Hall of Mirrors on the 1st floor, the photographic exhibition Etichette Buchette – Stories of Imaginary Wines will be on display from November 7 to 20, 2025 (with the official opening on November 8 at 5:30 PM, following the presentation of the book of the same name at 4:30 PM).
Free admission every day from 10:00 AM to 8:30 PM.

 

The Exhibition and the Book

Twelve labels of imaginary wines are paired with twelve buchette del vino (wine windows) of Florence.

Each label, placed on an empty bottle, was photographed inside or beside one of these small historic wine windows in Florence’s old town.

These same labels—and thus the imaginary wines they evoke—became sources of inspiration for twelve professional writers whose short stories are collected in the book Etichette Buchette (BDV Editions).

The exhibition is conceived and curated by Lorenzo Scacchia (Incipitojo) and Matteo Faglia (President of the Associazione Buchette del Vino and publisher of the book).

Supported by: Ruffino, Babae, Café Odeon, Vetreria Etrusca.

 

About Etichette Buchette (a.k.a. EtiBu)

The project was born from the meeting between the creative worlds of Lorenzo Scacchia and Matteo Faglia.

Incipitojo has been exhibiting imaginary book covers since 2019, inviting visitors to imagine what unwritten pages might contain and to compose poems or short stories inspired by those covers.

The Associazione Buchette del Vino, founded in Florence in 2015, is dedicated to studying and promoting these small openings—first “invented” in the late 1500s to sell wine directly from the noble palaces that produced it in the surrounding countryside.

The first step of the project was an invitation to twelve authors, each of whom selected one of Scacchia’s labels, “tasted” the imaginary wine, and wrote a story inspired by it—freely, with only one constraint: a length of about 10,000 characters.

Thus, images and imagination intertwine to celebrate the world of wine.

The participating authors are:
Valentina Barile, Paolo Di Paolo, Carlotta Fruttero, Leonardo Gori, Lia Levi, Sacha Naspini, Anna Prandoni, Alessandro Raveggi, Vanni Santoni, Marco Vichi, Christine Von Borries, and Paola Zannoner.

The stories are collected in a volume published by Edizioni BDV (an imprint of the Associazione Buchette del Vino), with design and layout by Simonetta Scaglione.

 

The Photographs

Another cornerstone of EtiBu is the series of photographic portraits by Scacchia, set in Florence and featured in this exhibition.
Each label was applied to an empty bottle kindly provided by Vetreria Etrusca.

Scacchia and Faglia spent a day wandering across both sides of the Arno, pairing each label with a wine window. In most cases, they involved unsuspecting passersby in building the scene—their hands, arms, and bodies became essential parts of the photographs.

Each portrait in the exhibition is accompanied by:

• the address of the wine window (and name of the palace, if relevant),

• information about the window,

• the bottle model name,

• and the opening lines of the corresponding story.

A display panel features all twelve empty bottles.

The photographs are also included in the book, which thus serves as the exhibition’s catalog.

 

Incipitojo

{for the purpose of imaginative wandering}

An exhibition of imaginary book covers. Visitors are invited to fantasize about what unwritten pages might contain and to write poems or short stories inspired by those covers—thus retracing the usual editorial process in reverse, since the cover here precedes the work itself.

Created and curated by Lorenzo Scacchia, the project—while revolving around the same founding idea—adapts its form to each hosting venue and its collaborations.
It often includes a literary competition, and sometimes the covers are born from social inclusion workshops.
Writing sometimes happens on seed paper, later planted elsewhere, weaving connections between writers and sowers.

🔗 incipitojo.it
🔗 hauchnebelkabinett.eu
🔗 instagram.com/hauchnebelkabinett

 

The Associazione Buchette del Vino

Founded in Florence in October 2015 and presided over by Matteo Faglia, the Association’s mission is to survey, study, document, promote, and safeguard a heritage unique to Tuscany: a network of small architectural openings once used for selling wine directly from producers to consumers of all social classes.

These buchette del vino originated and spread only in Florence and the Grand Duchy of Tuscany from the late 1500s onwards. Created to sell wine by the flask directly from noble palaces, they fell into disuse by the mid-1900s—until their rediscovery in 2019, with the reopening of one at Babae in Via Santo Spirito, soon followed by several others that revived the tradition with a contemporary twist.

The ongoing census now records almost 300 wine windows throughout Tuscany.
The Association’s communication—via its website and social media profiles—shares discoveries, research, guided tours, video tours, “wine window hunts,” and other initiatives.

🔗 buchettedelvino.org
🔗 facebook.com/buchettedelvino
🔗 instagram.com/buchettedelvino