Volterra. Far off the tourist trail for most of us. Unless your Italian, chances are the only place you’ve ever heard of this place is in that Twilight series that tweens cared about a decade ago. However, Volterra has withstood Romans, Etruscans, a few pesky Goths, and has a gorgeous temple, some lovely piazzas, and some of the best Tuscan food to boot. But let’s be real for a second, Volterra should be on the map for one thing and one thing only; La Vena Di Vino.

The more I travel Italy, the more I hear of this ‘unique’ and ‘gorgeous’ enoteca that you just have to check out when you reach whatever tiny village in Tuscany that has a name that you' probably recognise, but have never been to. Stories like this are common. The ‘hidden’ wine bar that your neighbours ‘discovered’ in the heart of Florence. I roll my eyes when I hear people talking about it, especially in Tuscany. Every wine bar has been tested, every little alleyway has been photographed. Travel is dead - long live travel. So, to kick this off in the right way - I didn’t discover La Vena Di Vino. I’m hardly the first person to have visited there. Rick Steves wrote an incredibly glowing review about the place a few years ago. I’m not even special for writing a blog post about it. Plenty of people know about the place. Yet, in my mind La Vena Di Vino is worthy of all the publicity that can be generated for it. It’s worth you detouring from your very important drive through Tuscany to visit. The place, in short, is special.

Located on the main drag of Volterra, Via Don Giovanni Minzoni, La Vina Di Vino is the beating heart of what a wine bar should be. What all wine bars should aim to be. Yet, most wine bars aren’t this joint, and should hang their heads in shame. We had heard about La Vena Di Vino from some other backpackers in Bologna, and visited during lunchtime on a Monday. When we arrived, on possibly the coldest day in Tuscan history (it was, like, 6°C), only the owner and one other man were sitting at a table, sipping on a few wines. The worker behind the bar greeted us, bade us sit down, and before we knew it, we were chatting amiably with the owner and his friend. They expressed shock a us being Australian;

‘And you’ve come all the way here?’ he said, in patchy English.

‘Yeah, to visit you guys!’

‘Look at me!,’ he said to the worker behind the bar, ‘Mr. International!’

We ordered up a bottle of Chianti Classico, and sipped away, admiring the amazing decor of the front room. The bar area is decidedly pastiche - with a range of Americana-inspired signage, a hanging garden of signed brassiere from the ceiling, and framed photographs, amidst some truly excellent looking wines. A VW car bonnet hangs precariously from the roof. The bric-a-brac, however, isn’t gauche or tacky, in fact, it’s probably perfect. The mood inside is relaxed, though I imagine when a few of the old boys turn up on a Friday night, things will likely get bawdy. Think, tavern, but, not in a ‘lets-try-and-recreate-a-Roman-Tavern-but-really-just-paint-our-existing-wine-bar sort of way). I wish I could have stayed to see the place fill up with locals, i think the vibe would only have gotten better.

We sipped away at our wines, watching the owner duck outside for a cigarette. The wine was good. hair-raisingly good.

‘How much are we paying for this?’

‘10 euros,’ answered Carlie.

Before long we had ordered up a few bowls of some flabbergastingly good Tuscan food. The food was that perfect down-home cooking that your grandmother would make if she were Italian, and inclined to cook tripe, lamb, and ox-tongue. My grandparents never did for me, but at least I was served it at La Vena Di Vino. The food was hearty, unpretentious and extremely satisfying. The ox-tongue was exquisitely cooked in a stew, and we ate it with bread, dipping it in and gleefully smiling at one another. I’m still thinking about it now. Especially when we were paying around 7 euros a dish, I’m counting it as a steal of ‘Italian Job,’ proportions.

After lunch we tried some of their home-made Vermouth, Grappa and Gin, and explored the downstairs area. Once you leave the main bar, the stair descend into a series of wine caves below the floor. The place is atmospheric, extremely cool, and decidedly rustic. It’s the kind of place that would be perfect to lay into a few bottles of Chianti with your mates - unfortunately, as we were half a world away from friends and family we didn’t get to give this a go, but, here’s hoping.

We finished up our time at La Vena Di Vino by sharing a glass of wine with the owner. We chatted Italian wine with broken English and even more broken Italian. We watched as locals passed by up the road, huddled against the cold. The wines were tasty, cheap and extremely heart-warming. He spoke passionately about his bar, the experience he wanted customer to have there.

‘It’s supposed to be fun,’ he said. ‘Not serious.’

As we were leaving, slightly warmer than when we left, I felt pretty assured that the desired experience had been achieved.

You can visit La Vena Di Vino by heading to Via Don Giovanni Minzoni, 30, 56048 Volterra. Volterra is located about 2 hours drive from Florence, an hour from Siena, and is definitely worth checking out if you’re in Tuscany. They are open every day of the week from 11 am to 1 am, except Tuesdays. Head in, keep your pretensions outside and pull up a chair - you’re going to have fun.

Any questions, comments or concerns? Hit me up in the comments below!