The Impossible Collection of Wine

The Library Essay

A Cellar Nobody Could Fill

Enrico Bernardo, named best sommelier in the world in 2004, was asked to imagine the cellar of a lifetime: one hundred wines chosen without regard to price or availability, the bottles and vintages around which the whole idea of great wine has been built. His selection travels the legendary appellations of Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne and beyond, in vintages long drunk or locked away, which is what makes the collection impossible and the exercise revealing.

Assouline published his choices in 2016 in the Ultimate Collection's hand-bound format. Read in sequence they amount to a sommelier's education in a single volume, a history of taste told bottle by bottle, and a standing invitation to disagreement, which among wine people is the sincerest engagement on offer.