The sprwaling cellars of Enoteca Pinchiorri

There are people who envy my life. I know this, because they have told me so. Usually, I can dismiss this as nonsense. Other people’s lives are never quite what we imagine, after all. Still, sometimes I do have an inkling of what they mean.


The sun is shining, the view is magical, the hotel suite is large and kindly members of staff, properly trained and immaculately attired, are catering to my every whim. Is there a tiny something to envy here? Possibly, I might grudgingly admit. But, once in the proverbial blue moon, an occasion arises which veers so close to perfection that I have to concede that envy would be entirely justified. Thus it was in Florence. In this city of art and beauty, I sat in a restaurant regarded as one of the finest in the world and ate two of the best dishes ever to enter my mouth. Here was gastronomic rapture. I knew without a scintilla of doubt that I deserved to be envied. I was, of course, at the Enoteca Pinchiorri.


It’s hard to overshadow three Michelin stars, but at Enoteca Pinchiorri, the vast wine collection does just that and more and then some. The three-star meal is really just an excuse to taste from this Florentine institution’s exclusive cellar, which holds 150,000 bottles of 200 types of wine. Hot damn!

Browsing the tome of a wine list can take the better part of a day so amateur oenophiles are advised to rely on what would have to be the world's most knowledgeable sommelier- lucky for you, I'm just that.

To begin: There are two volumes of the wine list. It is one of the most interesting I have ever seen. If you have a couple of weeks to spare, you should study it. Giorgio Pinchiorri has built up a cellar full of liquid treasure.



Of the 150,000 bottles, 50% are Italian, 40% are French and 10% are from the rest of the world. Ponder for a moment the legendary 1945 vintage in Bordeaux. Here you can choose from Pétrus (21,000ε), Mouton-Rothschild (18,000ε) and Lafite (9,500ε). These sorts of riches are repeated on page after page, although it is also possible to spend just 40ε on a bottle of white Lambrusco. To my mind, the pinnacle comes with one of the pages of red burgundy. I blinked at the 17 bottles. These were not the usual bottles, but Methuselahs, each holding the equivalent of eight ordinary bottles. They included the most expensive bottle of wine I have ever encountered in a restaurant – a Methuselah of 1985 Romanée-Conti for 300,000ε.
For my own imbibing, I placed myself in the hands of the sommelier, Massimo Raugi – a smart fellow, wearing a jacket of dark red. His knowledge and expertise led me to some really enjoyable drinking from Tuscany. Into the gleaming glasses – a mixture of Riedel and Spiegelau – he poured the 2006 Poggio Scalette (Richiari - 200ε), a truly delicious chardonnay with an intriguing touch of gewurtztramner – smooth, toasty, creamy and full-bodied. The 2003 red super-Tuscan (a blend of sangiovese, cabernet and syrah) proved a bit stern for my palate, but decanting tempted it to yield up its luscious flavours of damson and blackcurrant (Avvoltore - 300ε).

Truly this is one place where you most certainly can venture off the beaten Carafe!