Brunello, Chianti Classico and Bolgheri for dinner at Tomkat
A Brunello with a few years behind it does not ask for a lecture. It asks for a table, something to eat and the time to finish the bottle. That is how Tuscan wines work for us: not as a flag to wave, but as the starting point when you walk into Tomkat, at Via Calderia 12, in the old town of Lucca.
We are open Monday to Saturday, from 18:00 to 23:00; on Sundays we are closed. Many guests arrive after a day inside the walls with a very simple question: what are we drinking tonight? The answer depends on the table, on how hungry you are and on how long you want to stay. But if you are looking for Chianti Classico, Brunello di Montalcino, Bolgheri or an older Tuscan vintage to open by the bottle, you are in the right place to talk about it without turning dinner into an exam.
Our wine list changes with every new edition and holds nearly 200 labels, mostly Italian, with Tuscany and Piedmont in the front row. France comes right after, with Burgundy and Champagne, which interest us a great deal. We do not pretend that one region is enough for everyone: a bottle of Sangiovese can be the right choice for a meat dish, but also for a dinner of pecorino, Tuscan cured meats and olives. It depends on the wine and on how you have decided to eat.
Tuscan wines for dinner, not for a shop window
Tuscany is too big to fit in a single sentence. If you are after Chianti Classico, you will find a red that sits naturally at the table: it has the right pace for Tuscan-style meatballs, for a lasagna with 24-hour ragù, or for a selection from the pantry when you do not need a full meal.
Brunello often moves at a different rhythm. We pour it when the table wants to linger a little longer, perhaps over the slow-cooked beef roast with chimichurri or the pork ribs in sweet and sour sauce, two dishes on the current menu. We do not promise a fixed dish, because the menu follows the seasons. What we can promise is that the choice of wine starts from what comes out of the kitchen that evening, not from a formula repeated by heart.
Then there is Bolgheri, the more Mediterranean, more structured side of Tuscany. Many international guests ask for it as soon as they sit down. That makes sense, but it is not compulsory. Sometimes the best bottle for your table is a Chianti Classico Riserva, less obvious than a more famous name. Sometimes it is a white, especially if you started with Gillardeau oysters, salt cod in tomato sauce or Comté. A famous name helps you find your bearings; the glass has to help you eat.
We do not list any Colline Lucchesi wines. We would rather be precise than add labels to fill out a story that others tell better. Our idea of Lucca goes through the table and the choice made that evening, not through a list of obligatory words.
Mature vintages: when the wine already has something to say
Young bottles have energy. Mature vintages often have conversation. That is why our list also includes a few Tuscan reds that have already come some way down the road, such as some Brunello di Montalcino, without treating them as museum pieces. These vintages are opened only by the bottle, never by the glass. They are not there to impress the next table. They are for anyone who wants to understand how a red changes when time takes away some of its volume and leaves more detail.
Our selection of mature Bordeaux, from the 1980s onwards, makes another point clear too: Tuscany remains the cellar’s first language, but we like to set it beside France. Not for textbook comparisons. Rather to see how a dinner can change direction. You can start with a Tuscan red by the glass, carry on with a bottle and finish with Champagne. It is not an endurance test, and it should not be.
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. They are welcome recognition, of course. But we do not choose a bottle because it looks good on a shelf. We choose it because, once opened, it should make you want to order something else from the kitchen.
The glass list changes with the wine list
If you are in Lucca for one or two nights, a glass is often the smartest choice. Not because it is a lesser option, but because it lets you taste without planning a strategy. In the current edition of the list there are nine wines by the glass: five reds, three whites and one Champagne, from 8 to 18 euros. With the next edition they may be different. Older vintages, on the other hand, are never poured by the glass: like mature Bordeaux, they are opened only by the bottle.
For guests who come back from Lucca, the Piana or Versilia, this matters even more. The selection by the glass changes with every new edition of the list, so you never feel you are starting again from the same page. We can pour a Tuscan red with the toasted sourdough focaccia with organic Cilento tomato, then move on to another wine with the boneless honey and lemon chicken thigh. Or you can stay with the pantry, with Pata Negra, pecorino and caviar, without feeling obliged to have a long dinner.
The numbers are not there to impress. Nearly 200 labels and nine wines by the glass simply give us room to choose well on the night. If there are two of you and you want a bottle, we will find it. If you are on your own and want a serious glass with two dishes, that works too.
A tasting devoted to Tuscan reds
If you have time at 18:00, the Tuscan Reds tasting is the most direct way into our selection. It lasts about 90 minutes, is available in Italian and English and requires a minimum of four people. It is not a lecture on a white tablecloth: it is a table, a sequence of wines and the context you need to understand why we put them together.
If you are travelling alone or as a couple, there is Tomkat’s Choice, available for one person too, with prices starting at 20 euros. The other tastings include Italian Reds, Burgundy Reds, Champagne and White Wines of the World. Tuscany remains a natural way in, but we have no interest in closing the door behind you.
There is also a tasting menu to share with the whole table, at 40 euros per person, to which you can add a separate pairing of 3, 5 or 7 wines. It is useful when you want to leave some of the decisions to us. It is not useful when you have already spotted a particular bottle on the list and know that it is your evening. In that case, order the bottle. We will not be offended.
Choosing a bottle for tonight
The first question is not how much you want to spend. It is how you want to dine. A couple who have just arrived in Lucca may want a Chianti Classico with cured meats and pecorino, and then to share a dish. A group of friends may prefer to open a more important bottle with the roast or the ribs. A collector may feel like trying a less obvious vintage and comparing it, without hurry, with a French bottle.
That is where we start. We tell you what there is, what has just arrived and what, in our view, is at the right moment. This is exactly why the list changes with every new edition: a list that never moves is easy to print, but less interesting to drink.
If you are coming this week, book your table and leave us a line about what you are looking for: Chianti Classico, Brunello, Bolgheri, mature vintages or simply a good glass with dinner. We will take care of the rest once you are seated. Wine is complicated enough away from the table.
The Tomkat team