Which tasting to choose for an evening in Lucca
At 6 pm, Lucca changes pace. Anyone who has spent the afternoon between the walls and the churches is looking for a table, not a lecture on oenology. Choosing an evening tasting is above all about choosing how to spend your time: a short flight before dinner, an evening among Tuscan reds, or an important bottle with a few dishes from the kitchen.
At Tomkat, at Via Calderia 12 in the historic centre, this is how we work: six tastings with a set start time, 6 pm, lasting about 90 minutes. You book and pay online, and they are available in Italian and in English. Then there is the dining room, the wine list, a seasonal kitchen and a pantry menu designed for those who want dinner without committing to a full tasting.
The choice doesn’t depend on how much you know about wine. It depends on who you are, how much time you have and what you really want to drink.
How to choose an evening tasting without picking the wrong evening
The first question is simple: are you one person, a couple or a group? The answer clears up a few doubts straight away. The Tomkat’s Choice tasting starts at 20 euros and you can do it on your own: 3, 5 or 7 tastes chosen by us from the wines by the glass. It’s the one to pick if you arrived in Lucca today, have just one free evening and want to leave it to us rather than plan a theoretical itinerary.
The other flights require at least four people. It’s a practical rule, not an obstacle. Tuscan Reds, Italian Reds, Burgundy Reds, Champagne and White Wines of the World work best when the table is full of people who want to compare glasses and talk about them. Even those who claim they never comment on anything often end up with a very firm opinion about the third wine.
The second question is about time. All tastings start at 6 pm. It’s the right moment for those who want to give the evening a clear direction and then stay at the table. It isn’t ideal if you arrive in town at 8:30 pm or just want a glass before heading elsewhere. In that case it makes more sense to book a table and choose from the wines by the glass, which change with each new edition of the wine list.
The list has nine wines by the glass: five reds, three whites and one Champagne, from 8 to 18 euros. For a more relaxed evening it’s a sensible route: a white with a Gillardeau oyster, then a red with the Tuscan-style meatballs “rifatte” in tomato sauce, without having to follow a set flight.
If you’re looking for Tuscany, start with Tuscan Reds
For many international guests the answer is immediate: they want Tuscany in the glass. Not a picture-postcard Tuscany, but bottles with character, different vintages and areas that set the standard. The Tuscan Reds flight is the straightforward choice for a group that wants to focus on this part of the list.
Our selection looks mainly to Italy, with Tuscany and Piedmont in the foreground. A Chianti Classico can be the natural starting point, but it isn’t compulsory. Brunello and Bolgheri speak a different language, and what makes a tasting interesting is putting side by side wines that don’t need to resemble each other to make sense together.
It’s worth choosing if your group wants to understand why certain Tuscan reds stay at the centre of the table even with down-to-earth cooking. A slow-cooked beef roast with chimichurri sauce calls for a different presence than salt cod in tomato sauce. The menu changes with the seasons, so we don’t promise a fixed pairing. We promise not to treat wine as an accessory.
If instead you want Italy without stopping at Tuscany, Italian Reds widens the table. It’s the flight for groups who already have a preference, perhaps for Piedmont, but don’t want to turn the evening into a contest between regions. There’s no need to pick a flag: just pick a specific curiosity.
When France is the reason for booking
France is the second soul of our wine list. Burgundy and Champagne are not a decorative aside next to the Italian reds. For those who seek them out, they are reason enough to come for dinner.
Burgundy Reds is for groups who want to spend the evening on Pinot Noir and on the differences that a carefully built list can make readable without making them academic. It’s a tasting to book because you feel like Burgundy, not because someone told you that you have to try it at least once.
Champagne follows a different logic. It can be the right choice for a celebration, of course, but also for a table that prefers a more varied evening, between food and glasses. It works well with the pantry: Jura Comté, Tuscan cold cuts, pecorino, Pata Negra and, when available, caviar. These aren’t stylistic exercises. They’re good things to put in the middle of the table.
White Wines of the World, finally, is the flight for those who don’t want to start dinner with a red just because they’re in Tuscany. Our list includes a small selection from the rest of the world, and this tasting is the most direct way to give it room. It’s particularly suited to the warmer months, but not only: it depends on the table, on the month’s menu and on how keen you are to step out of your habits.
Tasting or dinner with pairing: two different evenings
There’s a common misunderstanding. The 6 pm tasting and the sharing tasting menu are not the same thing.
The wine flights are sessions of about 90 minutes, built around a theme. The tasting menu, on the other hand, costs 40 euros per person and is designed to be shared by the whole table; a pairing of 3, 5 or 7 wines can be added separately. Here the heart of the evening is the table: dishes arrive from the kitchen and the pantry, you share and you eat at a relaxed pace.
Choose the tasting if you want a clear theme and a set time. Choose the sharing menu with pairing if you are two or a small group and want the food to carry the same weight as the glasses. If you’re undecided, consider this: at 6 pm a tasting leaves room for dinner afterwards; the menu with pairing is already a complete dinner with its own rhythm.
Don’t fix on a dish you read about weeks ago: the menu follows the season. At the moment you’ll find, for example, the sourdough focaccia with organic Cilento tomato and the boneless honey and lemon chicken thigh; the next menu will bring other dishes. The wine list changes with each new edition for the same reason: bottles come in, run out, come back in another vintage or make way for something more interesting.
For a special bottle, don’t force the format
A themed tasting isn’t always the best answer. If you’re a collector, if you have a specific bottle in mind or if you want to celebrate with a great red at the table, book dinner and talk to us about it.
The wine list has almost 200 labels, mostly Italian and French. There’s Burgundy and Champagne, naturally, but also the Bordeaux Experience with mature vintages from the 1980s. Old vintages, together with Burgundy, Barolo, mature Bordeaux and Tuscan whites, are opened only by the bottle and never by the glass; the only exceptions are Burgundy and Barolo in the Burgundy Reds and Italian Reds flights. There’s no need to turn every mature bottle into a solemn occasion. Sometimes it’s enough to choose well who to drink it with and order something from the pantry.
Our wine list has received a Silver Star in the Best Newcomer List category at the Star Wine List of the Year International Open 2025, and another in the Best Medium-Sized List category in 2026, as well as the Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence in 2025 and 2026. These awards help show the work behind the cellar. At the table, though, they only count up to a point. What counts is whether you feel like drinking a specific wine, whether you’re happy to stay a while and whether the bottle makes sense for your evening.
Three details to decide before booking
Before booking the table, decide which language you’d like the tasting in, how many of you there will be and whether you want to stay for dinner after about 7:30 pm. They’re small details, but they change what we can suggest.
If you are fewer than four and would like a structured flight, Tomkat’s Choice is the option available even for one person. If you are four or more, you can choose the theme. If you’re planning a gift and don’t know the date yet, there’s the “Gift a Tasting” gift card, from 50 to 250 euros, with no expiry date.
If you live in Lucca, on the plain around it or in Versilia, the advice is even simpler: don’t wait for a special occasion. A 6 pm tasting on a weekday is an easy way to change your evening, drink different bottles and perhaps stay on for olives, cheese and one last glass. A programme doesn’t have to be long to be done well.
Choose the theme that really interests you, book the 6 pm slot and leave a little room for dinner. We’re open Monday to Saturday, from 6 pm to 11 pm; we’re closed on Sundays. The rest we decide in front of the wine list, not before.
The Tomkat team