Bonhams to hold auction of Locanda Locatelli cellar

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By Oliver Catchpole

Published: 30 September, 2025

Bonhams, the global network of auction houses, will be holding a London auction of wine from iconic Italian restaurant Locanda Locatelli.

The sale, which is called “Locanda Locatelli: Iconic Italian wines from a landmark London restaurant”, will run from 1 – 14 October.

The well-known restaurant closed in January this year, with a wine list that stood at 40 pages long, the majority of which were Italian wines.

The list earned several awards over the lifetime of the restaurant, including winning the Wine List Confidential Awards 2019, and featuring in the World’s Best Wine Lists 2015 (by The World of Fine Wine) for its extraordinary and diverse Italian selection.

Highlights from the cellar include wines from Gaja, Giacosa, Conterno, Mascarello and Rinaldi from Piemonte. The northeast is represented by Quintarelli and Dal Forno, while Masseto, Ornellaia, Sassicaia and Solaia all hail from Tuscany.

Mick O’Connell MW, head of wine UK and continental Europe, commented: “Over more than two decades Locanda Locatelli nourished the bodies, hearts and souls of over 1 and a half million people… At a time when Italian Fine Wine indices are on the march, this cellar features benchmark names highlighting the depth and breadth of quality this most gastronomic of countries has to offer the wine sphere. A small selection of bottles that were lovingly nurtured by the sommelier team at the restaurant begins the offering. We would like to thank Giorgio and Plaxy Locatelli for entrusting us with this treasure trove of Italian vinous culture.”

Giorgio Locatelli grew up watching his uncle run a Michelin Star restaurant in Lombardia. His own career brought him to London, where he worked at The Savoy, before moving to Paris to work at Restaurant Laurent and La Tour d’Argent.

Locatelli (and his wife Plaxy) founded Locana Locatelli in 2002, based on an ethos of warmth for both staff and customer, and with an eye to the generational handing down of familial knowledge and culinary skill at the heart of Italian cuisine.

By 2003, it had earned a Michelin star that it retained for over two decades.

More information about the sale can be found on the Bonhams website here.