Why You Won’t Find the Usual Wines at La Bidule

Because we choose small producers, lesser-known grape varieties and bottles that genuinely have something to say.

When someone walks into La Bidule for the first time, the same thing often happens.

They look at the bottles.

Their eyes move along the shelves.

Then comes the question:

“Do you have…?”

And they mention a famous wine.

One of those labels you can find in many bars, wine shops and restaurants.

Quite often, our answer is no.

Not because we do not like them.

Not because we think we are better than those who sell them.

Simply because we have chosen a different path.

When we opened La Bidule in the historic centre of Treviglio, we made ourselves a promise: we would only offer bottles we genuinely wanted to talk about.

It sounds simple, but it has shaped our entire selection.

Many of the producers we work with are small, family-run wineries.

Some make only a few thousand bottles a year.

Others work with grape varieties that are still relatively unknown.

And sometimes we choose a wine because behind it we have found people, stories and places that stayed with us.

That is why, on our shelves, you may come across a Pallagrello, a Tintilia, an Albana or a producer whose name you have never heard before.

And perhaps that is also why you will not always find the most famous labels.

A few days ago, a gentleman who had already bought a bottle from us came back.

This time he chose something different.

While we were chatting, he paid us a compliment that stayed with us.

He had worked in the restaurant industry for years and said:

“I like your selection because you don’t have the same names everyone else has. And yet the wines are excellent.”

We were pleased because, in just a few words, he had described exactly what we are trying to do.

We do not want to surprise people for the sake of it.

We do not want to be different simply for the sake of being different.

We just want to offer wines that have something to say.

Sometimes that choice requires a little more courage.

It is easier to sell something people already know.

It is harder to recommend a bottle someone has never heard of and explain why we think it deserves their attention.

But that is also one of the most enjoyable parts of our job.

We see it whenever someone tastes something they would never have chosen on their own.

A few weeks ago, a customer who usually prefers red wine agreed to try an Albana di Romagna.

At the end of the tasting, he smiled and said:

“I’m still a red wine person.”

Then he added:

“But the wine that surprised me the most was the Albana.”

And that, perhaps, is exactly why we keep looking for lesser-known producers and wines.

Because wine can still surprise us.

And when it does, it is always a special moment.

So if you come to La Bidule and do not find the bottle you were expecting, do not worry.

There is probably a good reason.

And there is a good chance we already have something else in mind that might surprise you.