Wine Flowed Like Water Into Italian Town's Homes

When residents of a town in northern Italy realized wine was coming from their faucets, they did the neighborly thing and called the nearby winery to report it. And, of course, they bottled it. A valve in the washing circuit on the bottling line at Cantina Settecani failed, CNN reports, sending about 1,000 liters of Lambrusco Grasparossa into the town's water lines. For about three hours on Wednesday, 20 or so homes in Castelvetro were the beneficiaries, per the Telegraph.

Northern Italy has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, which has hurt the area economically; the town's deputy mayor said tourist cancellations are running at 80%, and Rome on Saturday moved to quarantine 16 million people in the region. The free wine "was appreciated by many," a winery manager said, and the town reported that there was no health risk. "At a time where we have very little to smile about, I'm glad we brought some levity to others," the deputy mayor said. "Hopefully some day they'll remember us and will want to come visit us." (Thousands of gallons of wine poured into a river from a northern California winery.)