In the mood for wine? 15 places to drink with style in Bologna

Italy’s wine-world is maybe as wide and diverse as Italian cuisine itself.
​But once you’ve started, you won’t be able to stop discovering.

These are my best places to drink wine in Bologna and to give your trip a sparkling twist.
And you’ll never order just the house wine anymore.

This tiny shop and winery is in Via Oberdan, just a few steps from Piazza Maggiore.
A small door on the outside, a wide world inside.

​The owners will answer to everything you always wondered about organic wine – and you were always afraid to ask.
​If you feel like drinking, that’s the place for you – they basically don’t offer food.

My tip: try bio-dynamic. The production technique is somewhat magical, and so is the taste.

Info
Via Oberdan 18/A 40126 Bologna
Tel: +39 349 00 94 427
www.medullavini.it

A short menu for food and a wide wine selection: looks like the perfect formula.

During summertime, you can sit on the outside staring at Santo Stefano on your left and the two towers on your right.

​Even if it’s located in the fulcrum of tourists’ paths, Vineria Favalli still keeps the soul of old osterias.
Waiters are rather your friends, and chatting is kind of the main course.

My tip: Pumpkin-flavored piadina is delicious.

Info
Via Santo Stefano, 5A, 40125 Bologna
​Tel: +39 051 295821

Since 1924, people come here to sip a glass of wine leaning against the bricks of the Altabella tower.

​Olindo, the first owner, had to give away the tin counter during the 2WW, to make rifles and weapons for the army. Now, behind the marble counter, Carlo has a selection of wines from worldwide.

My tip: For a radical experience, try a Georgian Chkhaveri, and compare it to an Antiqua Albana from Romagna. They were both refined in amphora, like they have been doing in Georgia for 5000 years.

Info
Via Altabella, 15/B, 40126 Bologna
Tel: +39 349 300 2939
www.enotecastoricafaccioli.it

Below the sign of Enoteca Italiana that’s the writing “Fine wine and delicatessen”.
And inside, the most reassuring sight for a wine-lover: walls covered in bottles.

This could definitely be the chance to give your wine education a boost.
​My advice is to focus on local wine like Pignoletto or Albana, since the other places give them for granted, most of the times.

My tip: don’t stop your shopping at wine. They sell great pasta like Benedetto Cavalieri or Mancini hard to find abroad.

Info
Via Marsala, 2, 40126 Bologna
​Tel: +39 051 235989
www.enotecaitaliana.it

Fancy a quiet place, delicious appetizers, combined with a glass of Prosecco?
Head to Via Rialto, a winding road full of vintage shops, small bars, a cinema and the amazing Scaccomatto agli Orti.

There you’ll find Tricheco Osteria. Wooden chairs and furniture resemble your grandmother’s living room – the tasteful one.
​Food is great and mostly vegetarian.

My tip: in summertime I always look for a seat in the terrace: a good place for a date.

Info
Via Rialto, 23/a, 40124 Bologna
​Tel: +39 329 883 9885

They named this bar after nettle, the itchy plant from the fields.
And speaking of fields, here you’ll never find a wine that it’s not from organic grapes.
Furthermore, everything involved in the process is native of the production area: yeasts, sugars and wood for the barrels included.

My favorite?
​Centesimino, a grapevine that avoided the terrible phylloxera in 1879, enclosed in a walled courtyard near Faenza.

My tip: Close to the bar, a proper shop has just opened. So it’s time to buy new luggage for a “secure shipment”.

Info
Via Mascarella, 26/B, 40126 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 587 6455
www.lortica.org

If a philosopher photographer and an artist sommelier open a winery, you can expect something beautiful.

Franco and Gianluca’s winery will meet your expectations. They use their walls as a contemporary art gallery and host small concerts.
On Wednesday nights, you can bring your own vinyl disc and play it on a turntable.

My tip: Choose “meditation” wine and surrender to the good vibes.

Info
Via S. Giorgio 11/e, 40121, Bologna
Tel: +39 051 5882448
www.accavineria.com

When Mercato delle Erbe, one of the food markets in Bologna you have to visit, closes its shutter at night, the party starts in the back.

It’s hard to choose between the many places that open on the street for aperitivo. I followed my heart and chose the one with the sign Macelleria: butcher. It happens to be a small bar with a great selection of wine.

They call it “small tailoring wine bar”, and they have a choice for every mood, indeed.

My tip: ask for the grape-flavored pecorino. It will change your perception about cheese forever.

Info
Via Belvedere, 11, 40121 Bologna
Tel: +39 393 441 6674

They definitely have a thing for French wines, here.
And even if I wouldn’t stand on their barricade in a Italy VS France wine war, I always pay a visit when I’m around.

Why?
​Easy to say: I tried their fresh pasta. It’s probably the only place where to taste tagliatelle with a glass of Bourgogne.

My tip: they have a good selection of pasta hard to find elsewhere.

Info
Via Monte Grappa, 13, 40121 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 648 6561

After a hike to San Luca Basilica you’d need restoration. If alcoholic, even better. 

The motto of Mia Cantina is “the good wine is the one you like”.
Pretty reassuring, isn’t it?

Seat at a wooden table and start reading the black boards to make your choice.
​Call me old-fashioned, but in my case, it’s handmade Mortadella with a glass of Valpolicella classico.

My tip: since you are in Via Saragozza, keep it going and make a second stop at Billi Bar

Info
Via Saragozza 43/a, Bologna
Tel: +39 051 439904
www.miacantina.it

Same street, different style.

You just cross the street and flavors, colors, and even smells change. Inside the small La Fastuchera you’re suddenly feeling in a bar on the edges of a beach in Sicily.

Cous cous, sea food, oysters (if you’re lucky), ricotta-based desserts. And intense, perfumed, mediterranean Sicilian wine.

My tip: ask for a passito di Pantelleria to sip in their cozy garden.

Info 
Via Saragozza, 60/A, 40123 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 587 2739
www.lafastuchera.it

Now, for the last four, you’ll have to get outside of the gates of the city, probably taking a bus or a taxi.
Or a car – but in this case, make sure to invite that friend of yours who doesn’t drink.

The selection of natural wines and the location – inside a suburban market – made it earn the name of “punk winery”.
Don’t try yourself in intricate tasting moves, you won’t impress anyone.

Here you find the wine in all its truth – and snails to scrap.

My tip: they organize a wine festival called Gusto Nudo. If you’re lucky to be in Bologna on those days, don’t miss it.

Info
Via Francesco Albani, 40129 Bologna
​Phone numbers and websites are bourgeois.

It’s the furthest place of all, but a reference point for Bologna wine lovers, as well.
The menu is complete. Creative cuisine, story-telling wines by independent winemakers, and a lovely dehor on summer.

Giro di vite arranges themed dinners to taste and learn about wines from all over the world.

My tip: Consider it as a good excuse to visit Bologna, which is much more of you can find inside the old walls.

Info
Via Delle Fonti 45/b, 40128 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 35 46 171
www.enotecagirodivite.it

Agostino is a Neapolitan architect with passion for red wine. La Tempesta is his castle.

​Ask him to be your guide through a tablet menu with wines from all around Italy and a few selection of French.

Definitely not a place for pignoletto.

My tip: get some slices of knife-cut prosciutto

Info
Via Camillo Ranzani, 17, 40127 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 992 2636

The area between via Saragozza and via Andrea Costa is full of surprises.

​You can find the beautiful park of Villa Spada, the football stadium and the Certosa monumental cemetery.
Then, if it’s 6 pm and the unmistakable smell of fresh baked tigellas comes to your nose, you’re probably close to Zampa.

Celebrate uncorking a Pignoletto and… cheers!

My tip: they have a good Prosecco that fits great with a tagliere of salumi.

Info
Via Andrea Costa, 127/a, 40134 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 432931

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