Friday, April 16, 2010

Whine of El Duce! Still Dictating Bad Taste in Northern Italy!




I collect unusual wine label bottles and few come more unusual than those illustrated here which were picked up a few years ago in Venice. I certainly am no supporter of fascism nor indeed of the sentiments espoused by those selling this wine. However, I find it fascinating that such influences are still alive and well in Italy even in this century and that Mussolini's legacy however brutal and extreme is still supported by some people in northern areas of Italy. Hence the importance of eternal vigilism where fascism is concerned. They say that those who fail to heed the lessons of history end up repeating them. Thus, I keep the wine bottles to remind me that the influences of fascism are still close to the surface and the potential reappearance of such political movements should be not be overlooked particularly at a time of severe recession. I paid very little for this cheap wine and am satisfied that I was not contributing significantly to their cause by acquiring it. However, it is interesting to think that El Duce is still in a small way dictating bad taste, even in wine, in Italy today.

As a conterbalance I have included a 'Love'ly wine label with Amor Divino! That's 'amore' like it!


Note: I would like to recommend reading 'Mussolini's Italy-Life under the Dictatorship' by R.J.B.Bosworth -- for an insight into the fascist violence in Italy which devastated so many lives during the Second World War.

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