In Search of Vinny "The Grape" Safuso

One of the high points of my trip to Venice in 2009 was the discovery of a bulk wine shop.  I remembered that it was in the Dorsoduro, but not precisely where.  Online searches didn't help.  From them I only discovered that what I was looking for was called a "vini sfuso" (prompting one witty individual to note that it sounded like a mafioso, named in the title of this post).  I asked many people once I got here, but no one seemed to know of this one specific wine shop.  Finally it was Google Street that helped me find it. And it's no wonder the place was so difficult to find:  it's small, and has no sign at all.  It's totally just a neighborhood hole-in-the wall, with several huge jugs of local wine...and a hangout for the local men, it would seem.  I found it this morning, and purchased a liter of Prosecco.  "Gas, or no gas?"  he asked me.  "Huh??"  ALL Prosecco is carbonated, I thought.  No, he assured me that was not the case, while gesturing towards a jug labelled Cabernet Franc.  So here's to one mystery solved, and the dawn of the next one.  Can Prosecco be non-carbonated and still be called Prosecco????*

*Well, yes, as it turns out!  According to Wikipedia, it comes in three forms:  spumante (very fizzy), frizzante (mildly fizzy) and tranquilo (you guessed it).  Who knew?


                                                                   Here's the shop: