Rare wines in Lucca, to drink at the table, not in theory

A rare bottle can mean many things. For some it is a Tuscan red with a few years behind it. For some it is Burgundy. For others, Champagne or mature Bordeaux. For us it mostly means one thing: a bottle that has a reason to be opened tonight, at the table, rather than kept on a shelf for show.

At Tomkat, at Via Calderia 12 in the historic center, we have a wine list that changes with every new edition. It runs to almost 200 labels, with Italy at its heart – Tuscany and Piedmont in particular – and France close behind, with Burgundy and Champagne. Then there are a few detours through the rest of the world, because now and then it helps to remember that a border is not a moral rule.

We don’t build a list to fill pages. We build it for whoever walks in at 7:30 pm after a day in Lucca and wants to drink well, eat a proper meal and decide without having to pass an exam.

Rare bottles, but for a reason

The word “rare” gets used rather lightly. A bottle does not become interesting just because it is hard to find, expensive or covered in dust. It interests us when it has a story in the glass: a vintage that has found its moment, a producer who works with precision, an appellation that truly changes with time.

Tuscany comes first. Anyone looking for a Chianti Classico, a Brunello or a Bolgheri will find a selection built for drinking, not for ticking off appellations like a shopping list. There are young vintages, when they have energy and balance, and more mature bottles when time has added complexity without taking away drive.

Then comes Piedmont, with reds that can be severe and deep, and France. In Burgundy we look for wines that say something about their place and their vintage. In Champagne we don’t chase the label made for photos: we look for tension, wine, character. These are simple criteria. Applying them well takes a lot of work, but that shouldn’t become the table’s problem.

The list changes because availability changes, vintages change and so do our ideas. A bottle that deserves its place today may make way, in the next edition, for another that is more on point. We don’t promise you will always find the same wine. We promise to know why it is there when you find it.

Mature Bordeaux, from the 1980s

For those who would travel for a great cellar, there is our Bordeaux Experience, which we open by the bottle only. The point here is clear: Bordeaux with real age, with mature vintages from the 1980s onward. It is not a collection of relics: we prefer to say what we have and open it at the right moment.

A mature Bordeaux has a precise place at dinner. It can go with the slow-cooked beef roast with chimichurri sauce, on the menu at the moment, or stand on its own for a few minutes while the table decides the rest. You don’t have to order the most imposing dish on the menu to deserve a great bottle. Sometimes artisanal cold cuts from Lucca and Tuscany, alpine Comté from the Jura or Pata Negra from the pantry are enough. Sometimes the right conversation is enough.

This is also the advantage of a wine bar with a kitchen: we don’t separate the wine from the moment. A great bottle doesn’t need to arrive with ceremony. It arrives, it is poured and it is drunk. If needed, we talk about it. If not, we let the wine do the work.

A list to share, by the glass too

Not everyone feels like choosing a whole bottle. Not everyone has to. Our selection by the glass includes nine wines from the list: five reds, three whites and one Champagne, from 8 to 18 euros, changing with every new edition. It is the most direct way to drink something interesting even if there are just two of you, even if you want to taste several things, even if you leave early tomorrow. Old vintages, Burgundy, Barolo, mature Bordeaux and Tuscan whites, on the other hand, are not served by the glass: they are opened by the bottle only (Burgundy and Barolo can also be tasted in the Burgundy Reds and Italian Reds tastings).

For those who come back to Lucca or live in or around the city or in Versilia, the changing wines by the glass are perhaps the most concrete reason to drop by on any given Tuesday. A list that stands still is convenient. A list that changes gives you a reason to come back. We don’t collect your loyalty stamps: we would rather you were curious to see what has arrived.

The kitchen follows the same logic. The menu changes with the seasons and there is no point promising a dish months ahead. At the moment the sourdough focaccia with organic Cilento tomato, the fresh pasta lasagna with beef and pork ragù cooked for 24 hours and the salt cod in tomato sauce with chickpea purée are on the menu because they have a precise flavor, not because they are a backdrop for the wine. You can dine on several dishes, or stop at the pantry for a light dinner. Both choices are perfectly respectable.

There is also a tasting menu to share for the whole table, at 40 euros per person, to which you can add a pairing of 3, 5 or 7 wines, charged separately. It is a good option for those who want to leave it to us without turning the evening into a guided tour narrated out loud. The wine changes, the dishes change, the principle stays: portions to share, bottles poured with a purpose.

Six tastings, no compulsory lesson

At 6 pm we hold tastings of about 90 minutes, in Italian and in English. There are six flights: Tomkat’s Choice, Tuscan Reds, Italian Reds, Burgundy Reds, Champagne and White Wines of the World. They are not lessons for people who want to take notes on every aroma. They are tables for those who want to understand a selection by drinking it, with the context they need and no theatrics.

Tomkat’s Choice starts at 20 euros and is available for one person too. The other flights require at least four participants. It is a practical distinction, not a trick: some bottles and some comparisons make more sense when they are shared.

If you are choosing an evening out of the ordinary, Tuscan Reds is the natural starting point. If instead you have come to Lucca with a specific interest in Burgundy or Champagne, we can go straight there. Booking is needed because the tastings are prepared, not improvised at the last minute between one table and the next.

Restraint matters more than hype

Our 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 are awards we are pleased about. But they don’t change the point of the evening. The useful question remains: what are we drinking, and what are we eating with it? Awards don’t pour wine into the glass and don’t choose for you between a Tuscan bottle with a few years on it and a glass of Champagne. We do that together, if you like.

We are open Monday to Saturday, from 6 pm to 11 pm; we are closed on Sundays. For a rare bottle, a tasting or simply a table with wine by the glass and a few dishes from the kitchen, it is worth booking. Lucca is small, and good evenings go quickly.

See you at the counter or at the table. Bring curiosity, not preparation.

The Tomkat team