What does wine have to do with the Trevi Fountain?

The Fontana di Trevi is certainly among the most famous fountains in the world, designed by Nicola Salvi, it was inaugurated in 1735.
Made even more famous by Anita Ekberg in Fellini's film "La Dolce Vita", where the actress, in a famous scene, calls Marcello Mastroianni into the fountain: "Marcello… come here".
The construction of the monument is linked to that of the Acquedotto Vergine, during the reign of Emperor Augustus.

During its evolution, artists such as Leon Battista Alberti and Gian Lorenzo Bernini intervened to modify it.
You are obviously wondering why I am talking to you about art and not wine!
The reason is that the Fontana di Trevi and wine are closely connected precisely through the work of Bernini who, intent on transforming the square and the fountain, following an order from Pope Urban VIII in 1640.
Bernini designed an enormous water display, the widening of the square, and established that the fountain should be oriented toward the Quirinale.
All that remained was to finance the works!
And this is where the role of wine comes into play!
It is well known that the Romans were great drinkers and that they toasted celebrations and victories with rivers of wine, so the state decided to create an excise tax on the precious and widely consumed nectar to find the necessary funds.
No different from what modern politicians do and have done!
The reaction of the people was not the best, since such an important and dear commodity for the ancient Romans was being touched.
The epilogue was similar to what would presumably happen today: the funds were not enough and the resources for Bernini were drastically cut due to the war between the Pope and the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza; upon Urban's death, the new Pope Innocent X abandoned the project.
Numerous other projects, Popes, and artists worked on the work until it became what we see today.
The curious thing is that wine itself served to give birth to this famous fountain filled with water!
One must say that perhaps, in that case, paying a tax on wine was a good thing; who knows if otherwise we could admire it today just as it is.