Divino is an Italian wine and antipasti bar. With 40 wines by the glass and 250 by the bottle, Divino’s list highlights the best of Italy’s 2000 plus grape varieties from its 21 wine-growing regions. It is modelled on the Enotecas of Italy which are at the centre of Italian culture and known as ‘wine libraries’.

However, what makes Divino special is its technology. Enomatic® systems dispense wine directly from the bottle using inert gas preservation. The flavours and characteristics of the wine remain intact for more than three weeks, as if the bottle had just been opened. This allows the customer to sample even the most expensive wines before committing to buy.  

Lorenzo Magnani has just taken over as Divino manager and Bite stopped off on its travel around the city in order to have a chat with him.

B: Tell us a bit about yourself:

L:  Well, I am from Rome and my first love is football. I was pretty good but not quite good enough to go professional so I embarked on a career with my second love, food and wine.

B: What brings you to Edinburgh?

L: I love Italian culture and Rome is endlessly romantic; you could walk round the city forever and still come across fantastic new buildings and places you have never seen before. The politics however, leaves a little to be d esired and Edinburgh seemed like a good place to move to.

B: What is your favourite wine?

L: I like the robust, full-bodied reds; Amarone, Valpolicella, Barolo and Barbaresco;

They are all bursting with Italian flavour.

B: And what is your favourite food?

L: My mamma’s food, fresh pasta, lasagne, meat; all food that matches my above wine choices.

B: So what Scottish food tickles your taste buds?

L: I think Scottish seafood is the best in the world and I also love haggis, banoffee pie, whisky and apple pie.

B: And as for Edinburgh Restaurants?

L: La Favorita and Kitchin.

B: What is a good choice from the Divino Menu?

L: Our best seller is the Il Grande Antipasto Divino, cheese and salami, marinated vegetables, home-made chicken liver parfait served with artisan wood-fired sourdough bread. Try it with a Chianto Classico Reserva. We are also starting to serve more ‘fine-dining’ style Italian dishes but still within the relaxed ambience of Divino.

B: What’s next for Divino?

L: Our Enomatic® machine especially d esigned for sparkling wines and we are also introducing ‘wine-flights’ where you can buy five 25ml wines to try in 5 different glasses. We will have white, red and sparkling ‘wine flights’.