Meet Wine Legend Giuseppe Bruno of Sistina, NYC

Sistina, which opened in 1982, is run by the charismatic Giuseppe Bruno. Bruno is not only the owner, but also the restaurant’s executive chef and sommelier behind an extensive wine list.

 

 

Just near New York City landmarks Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art lies a third Big Apple landmark known for its Italian cuisine and immense, award-winning wine collection. Sistina, which opened in 1982, is run by the charismatic Giuseppe Bruno. Bruno is not only the owner, but also the restaurant’s executive chef and sommelier behind a wine list as large as War and Peace. In fact, Bruno’s gigantic collection clocks in well over 100,000 bottles and 38,000 labels, which has won him accolades everywhere from Wine Spectator to Forbes.  

 

CHILLED spoke to Bruno about his passion for wine, memorable bottles, and his favorite pairings. “Jesus gave wine to his followers, Why shouldn’t we?” says Bruno.

 

 

 

Was it your goal to have such a massive collection, or was it just something that organically occurred?  

Well, I was always in love with wines and collected them personally. But 30 years ago I saw people were becoming more and more interested. I happened to know a lot about wine; I’m a farmer originally and my family still has a farm in Salerno where we not only have chickens and rabbits, but also produce both olive oil and grapes for wine. One thing led to another, and I just really fell in love with it. I used to collect used cars, but then I said, “Screw the cars! I like wine.”  

 

What makes wine special for you?  

For me, it’s not about drinking, it’s about the collection itself. I only drink maybe a glass of wine every other day. I love the labels and I look at the bottles and they make me feel good. Jesus gave wine to his followers. Why shouldn’t we? My philosophy is that a glass of wine with your family, wife, boyfriend, children, sister or whoever can relax you, it loosens you up a little bit. You can talk, you can open up.” 

 

What was a bottle you most enjoyed from your collection?  

There was a 1961 Oberon, one of the best wines ever made. A 100-point wine. I collected that wine, and one day I said to my wife, “Listen, why don’t you come down to the restaurant and I’ll open it up for my birthday?” She was supposed to come down, but that night had a little problem, a little dispute, and she decided not to come. She’s pissed off at me and it’s my birthday, so I opened the wine and had it by myself! It was one of the most beautiful nights of my life. I sat at the bar from 1 O’clock in the morning to 6 O’clock and left as the sun came up.  

 

 

What are your favorite wine and food pairings?  

I’ll have lamb tonight, so maybe I’ll pair it with (a bottle of the Italian red wine) Barolo. With white wine, I’ll have a class with fish, oysters, or some beautiful sushi. Or if I have sashimi, I’d drink a white burgundy. Or a burgundy, my God, with lobster and truffles. Italy has a few white wines which are really good. You know who makes great white wines now? Sicilians, specifically Etna Bianco. Or with beef, perhaps a beautiful Oberon.  

 

What’s popular to drink at Sistina?  

Groups of people will come here and buy the same wine but different vintages. So in a party of six, we can sell four or five bottles. If we do 200 people a day, we sell 100 bottles of wine a day. But we’ve been selling a lot of champagne too, I don’t know if it’s because of the pandemic or what. Champagne is flying off the shelves, bottles that go for $1,500 or $2,000. I had to go to private collectors and liquor stores to keep it up.  

 

What’s the most recent addition to your collection?  

One of my clients was a friend of mine who passed away. His wife sold me a huge amount of wine from his collection. When somebody dies in a family, they know I have so much, and people will ask me if I want to check them out. So, I’ll see people’s cellars and tell them what they have. I always buy wines from private collectors, because when you see the cellar yourself you can see how they keep it. Especially temperature-wise: wine falls asleep at a certain temperature and if it changes temperature they can wake up and start to ferment.  

 

With such a big collection, have you had any mishaps?  

Accidents do happen. Sometimes you break a bottle when you open the case, and the labels get stained. That takes money off, because you tell the customer that you have the wine, and the label is stained. We received, three or four years ago, six liters of a special wine made by this famous Italian artist. Unfortunately, one of my employees broke the bottle and he didn’t know how to tell me. I knew something was wrong, his face was white as a ghost. So I asked him, “Is everything okay?”  He said everything was fine. It wasn’t until later that he said, “I can’t sleep at night. I have to tell you something.” I said, “What? About your family? You’re quitting?” He said, “No, I broke a bottle of the six liters of wine.” I felt so bad for him because he felt terrible about it. I said, “Come on. Filter it and let’s drink it.” We’re human, we make mistakes.  

 

You arrived in America in 1975 and worked at legendary places such as Mr Chow before opening Sistina. Can you tell us about your early days in the States? 

Once I came to New York city as a young guy from Italy, I wanted to do so many things. I met a lot of people in my career. I worked in restaurants and my favorite thing was to be in art. I was always dealing with painters; I would hang out with Andy Warhol. Andy was a tiny guy, he wasn’t big. He was very gentle, very kind. He didn’t say much, he loved to eat and was very quiet. He was a great listener. He was very curious about a lot of things. Most artists are like that. I was always attracted to artists like that, painters like Frank Stella or Donald Baechler.  

 

What’s your measure of success? 

For me, success with wine is keeping my standards high and having the greatest collection in the world.