Rehoboth’s Bin 66 introduces wines from Greve, Italy

When Tom Bachmann and Tom Poor opened Bin 66 on Route 1 in Rehoboth Beach in 2004, the first of their two elegant and eclectic wine stores, neither imagined that they were following - 480 years later - in the footsteps of explorer Giovanni de Verrazzano, who mapped the Delaware coast in 1524.

The owners, explorers themselves in the world of wines, didn’t imagine that in selling wines from Verrazzano’s home city of Greve, Italy, they would be contributing to the unique relationship formed in April when Rehoboth Beach and Greve were officially declared sister cities.

While City Hall in Greve displays the flags of the United States, Delaware and Rehoboth Beach, and while the town of Rehoboth Beach honors Verrazzano with a recently dedicated monument on the Boardwalk at Olive Avenue, business owners like Bachman and Poor are celebrating the artistic, cultural and educational exchange offered by this partnership in less official but nonetheless unique ways.

Knowledge of wine, from any region, often translates into knowledge of history, tradition, art, politics and sometimes religion. Hence, one way to learn more about Rehoboth’s sister city is to do what Bachmann and Poor are doing at both Bin 66 locations: stocking and sampling some of Greve’s most unique wines.

For example, a bottle of Castello di Verrazzano Chianti Classico is the first known Chianti recipe. Baron Bettino Ricasoli, the future prime minister of Italy, created the wine in 1872. Another wine, the Castello di Verrazzano Rosso, retrieves the old tradition, now in disuse, of mixing red Chianti with white grapes.

Bin 66 employee and wine afficionado Paul Dyer frequently works at the downtown location in the Shops at the Pearl Mall. Dyer said he has definitely seen a great interest in the Greve wines since their arrival. Dyer, who often works the Friday night wine tastings at the downtown location and who often assists in the ongoing Bin 66 wine and food pairing classes, said that isn’t surprising.

“Every wine has a story behind it, and more and more, our customers are as interested in the story as they are in the other important factors in choosing a wine,” said Dyer. “Greve is one more interesting story, all the more so as it directly connects to our own.”

For more information about the Greve wines, wine tastings, classes or free membership in the Bin66 Wine Club, go to bin66.com or email Tom@bin66.com or call 227-6966.