A literal wine cellar that turns rare vino, intimate dining, and St. Moritz glamour into something quietly extraordinary, you might think you have struck gold with Krug Stübli and it is all yours to keep. But that would be a mistake; anyone fortunate enough to make the journey to the postcard-perfect hill resort can book what is, quite remarkably, a private dining space within Badrutt’s Palace’s wine cellar.
Underground Elegance Uncorked
The Palace is hardly short of spaces designed to make an impression. Most of them, however, do it in daylight, with the Engadin landscape on display. But when 30,000 bottles provide a most remarkable backdrop to dinner, you would barely care for such an absence. There is something fitting about discovering this side of the Palace underground.
Upstairs, the hotel wears its history proudly; here, history is stacked on shelves, vintage by vintage. The cellar dates back to the hotel’s early years and remains one of its great wine repositories, with more than 1,200 different labels represented among those bottles. Rare Champagne and Burgundy are especially well represented, and the atmosphere keeps things deliberately intimate.
Wine and Wonders Below
Krug Stübli can be arranged for private events, with Badrutt’s Palace’s eleven restaurants giving the private cellar dinner an unusually broad culinary repertoire to draw from. Le Relais, for instance, brings Belle Époque glamour and tableside guéridon service to the Palace’s dining roster; a Stroganoff from there, paired with the supplied 2016 Château Batailley, makes for exactly the sort of deeply comforting, wine-led dinner that feels right underground.
Cellar Secrets, Candlelit Magic
Then there is Cristina Iuculano, the Palace’s head sommelier. A Sicilian who grew up around vineyards and wine barrels, she arrived with a fascination with the possibilities of a great bottle. Her wine picks range from Domaine de la Romanée Conti and Maison Krug to Burgundy icons such as Henri Jayer’s Clos Parantoux and Domaine des Lambrays’ Clos des Lambrays, so there you go, you can visit Krug Stübli already in the know. More importantly, her approach to pairing is refreshingly unorthodox: the right wine need not obey old rules about red with meat or white with fish.
And, finally, the cellar itself. Perhaps that is the real luxury of Krug Stübli. There are no mountain panoramas of greens and blues, no grand staircase, no glittering social theatre. Just candlelight, bottles with stories within, and the pleasant knowledge that centuries of wine making history are, quite literally, within arm’s reach. Even Badrutt’s Palace knows when to lower its voice and let the wine do the talking.
Krug Stübli: The Fact File
Address: Badrutt’s Palace Hotel, St. Moritz, Switzerland.
The Cellar includes: 30,000 bottles spanning over 1,200 labels along with a private dining experience for only 6 people at once.
Most valuable bottle cited by Cristina Iuculano: The 2009 Romanée-Conti Monopole, listed at a staggering CHF 38,500, or roughly INR 44–45 lakh at current exchange rates
Must-try bottles: Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Emmanuel Rouget, Maison Krug, Château Pétrus and Giacomo Conterno.
Dining/rental figures: ₹50,000 to book the venue, and another ₹50,000 minimum spend per person (this DOES NOT include wine).
Event reservations: +41 (0)81 837 2649; F&B reservations: +41 (0)81 837 1100
Read more: Peru’s Inca Valley And The Ritualistic Art Of Making Potato Wine
Also read: These Are Mumbai’s 5 Best Wine Bars
