Italian versus French wine styles, in the glass

An evening in Lucca often begins with a very simple question: Tuscany or France? For us, Italian versus French wine styles is not a competition and not a lesson. It is how we build an evening at the table. A Brunello with slow-cooked beef roast, a Burgundy alongside cheeses, a Bordeaux with a few years behind it when you feel like staying until the last glass.

We are at Via Calderia 12, in the historic center, near Piazza San Michele. Most of our guests arrive for one or two evenings and want to drink Tuscan wine. It makes sense: we are in Lucca, and we should not pretend otherwise. Sangiovese, Brunello di Montalcino, Bolgheri and Vermentino are often the first chapter of dinner. Then there is France, which for us is not just a supporting act: Burgundy, Champagne and Bordeaux are a distinct part of the cellar’s identity.

The list includes nearly 200 Italian and French labels. These are not numbers placed there to impress. They are bottles chosen one by one, updated every week, because a living wine list must also change its mind when it finds a better bottle.

Italian versus French wine styles: where to start

If you are looking for an Italian wine, we almost always start with the place and the dish. A Chianti Classico can be the straightforward choice for focaccia y tomate: focaccia, Campanian tomato, Tuscan oil and Maldon salt. It is a dish to share with your hands, so the wine should not demand too much attention. An energetic, balanced Sangiovese does its job without turning the table into an exam.

With Brunello, the conversation changes. It is a frequent choice for guests from the United States, the United Kingdom or Northern Europe who want a Tuscan bottle with weight, but not heaviness. With the slow-cooked beef roast and its jus, Brunello can be a natural choice. Not always, though. It depends on the vintage, the bottle and how much intensity you want in the glass. Sometimes a Bolgheri, with its fuller style, follows the direction of the dish better.

The Italian wine we serve is not just a regional flag. Tuscany and Piedmont are both well represented on our list, including older vintages. A Barolo may come to the table when dinner takes on a slower rhythm, perhaps with a selection from the pantry: Culatta di Parma, Jamón 100% Ibérico de Bellota, aged Tuscan pecorino, alpine Comté. Here, there is no need for a rigid answer. Barolo can be splendid, but it can also be too much for a table that simply wants to eat a couple of things and talk. In that case, a more agile Tuscan red is often the smarter choice.

France starts from a different logic. Not because it is more complicated. Simply, it often asks you to listen to the bottle before the imagined territory. A Burgundy from a small producer can be subtle, taut and deep without raising its voice. It is the wine we choose when someone says: “I’d like a serious red, but not too dark.” It is an imprecise phrase, but we understand perfectly what they mean.

Tuscany first, France for a reason

At Tomkat, we do not suggest France to correct someone who orders Tuscany. That would be rather boring. We suggest it when it opens a different path.

Burgundy, for example, can work well with slow-cooked beef roast, but in a different way from Brunello or Bolgheri. It does not seek to cover the dish. It seeks the more aromatic side of the slow-cooked meat and the salt of its jus. With the French and Italian cheeses from the pantry, it can then become the center of the evening without the need for a second course.

Champagne has a specific place on the list, and you do not need a special occasion to choose it. It can accompany Gillardeau oysters, caviar or focaccia y tomate. It can also be the right glass at the beginning, when you have not yet decided whether to truly have dinner or stay for a long while. Champagne from a small house or a grower often has a very distinct personality. That is why we suggest it thoughtfully, not as an automatic formula.

Bordeaux is our other France. The Bordeaux Experience brings together châteaux from the 1980s onward. It is designed for those looking for a bottle with time in it, not for those who want to take a picture of the label. A mature Bordeaux can be a wonderful choice with slow-cooked beef roast, sweet-and-sour pork ribs or a table of cured meats and cheeses. But you have to be in the mood for that style: more layered, less immediate and often quieter.

Here lies the difference we see most often at the bar. Tuscany tends to speak the language of place, fruit, the table and direct energy. France, in our selection, brings precision, evolution and nuances that arrive with a few extra minutes. It is not an absolute rule. There are very subtle Sangiovese wines and generous Burgundies. There are Bordeaux wines that enter the room immediately and Brunellos that ask for patience. Shortcuts in wine are convenient, but they are rarely interesting.

Wines by the glass, a list that changes

You do not have to choose a bottle. We often change our selection of wines by the glass. It is the simplest way to drink Tuscany if you are in Lucca for a short time, or to return on a weekday evening and find something different. Sometimes the right glass is a Tuscan Vermentino with focaccia y tomate. Sometimes it is a Tuscan red with a few years behind it. Sometimes it is a Burgundy you would never have ordered without a suggestion.

For guests who already know the area, the wines by the glass are also a concrete reason not to have the same evening every time. We do not need to invent a ritual. All it takes is a well-chosen bottle, a portion of Culatta or a few Cilento baby artichokes, and time to sit down.

Those who want to go further can book a guided tasting, starting at 20 euros. We build it around what genuinely interests the table: Tuscany and Sangiovese, a comparison between Italy and France, Burgundy, Champagne, Bordeaux with a few years behind it. It is not a performance with mandatory words. It is a choice of bottles and context, designed for those who want to understand why a preference works that evening.

The right choice depends on your evening

If there are two of you and you are looking for an unceremonious Tuscan dinner, start with the wine that brought you to Lucca. A Brunello, a Bolgheri or a Sangiovese with character, followed by slow-cooked beef roast or focaccia to share. If one of you wants a white, Vermentino is a very sensible path, not a compromise.

If there are four of you and the table wants to taste different things, wines by the glass let you place Tuscany and France side by side without opening too many bottles. If, instead, you are collectors, or simply have a weakness for mature vintages, tell us right away. We can look to the Bordeaux Experience, older Tuscan vintages or a Burgundy with the right story for your dinner.

The French list has brought us two recognitions that we are happy to keep in the background: Star Wine List Best Newcomer 2025 and Best Medium-Sized Wine List 2026. Wine Spectator awarded us the Best of Award of Excellence in 2025 and 2026. Good. But at the table, what matters most is a glass poured at the right moment and a dish that leaves it room.

We are open in the evening, Monday to Saturday, from 18:00 to 23:00. You can book on OpenTable or call us at +39 376 203 5395. If you arrive with a specific craving for Tuscany, we will start there. If, after the first glass, you become curious about France, we have a good reason to open that door too.

Pier Giulio Bendinelli