Superb Spirits – Hamptons Edition

Collezione New York curates and sells luxury spirits from its jewel of a boutique on Madison Avenue. The good news? Founder and longtime avid collector Stefano Pileggi is bringing both his connoisseurship and his trade to the Hamptons.

Until recently, Hamptonites who wanted to put together a top-flight home bar had few options. While there is no shortage of decent bottles, really special items – and expertise – have always been hard to find. Then there is the impersonal nature of the transaction. According to the Italian-born 3rd generation connoisseur of spirits and luxury products Stefano Pileggi, the missing element is what he calls “white glove service.” Namely, the kind he provides at his Madison Avenue shop Collezione New York. Collezione is Pileggi’s base of operations but now his passion, knowledge and trade are available in the Hamptons too.

Taking inspiration from luxury watch and handbag boutiques, Collezione’s bottles — a tightly-curated selection of prized spirits, rare expressions, and new super premium releases — are displayed like paintings or sculptures. The art parallel is deliberate. For Pileggi, a carefully-considered home bar or spirits cabinet is a thing of beauty, no less essential than the art on the walls or the plantings in the garden. Ultimately, all are fundamental expressions of hospitality. 

“If you’re entertaining guests and you offer them cocktails made with incredible-quality spirits like Campari and other red Italian bitters from the 1940s and 50s, Chartreuse, or a fine whisky, they will think, wow, you really know your stuff,” says Pileggi. He knows of what he speaks, having spent years building his own world-class whisky collection.

Fittingly, the shop works with developers who would like to have a home bar in place as part of a sale. “With wine, you need a cellar. But a spirits bar goes on display in the living room and forms part of the decor because the bottles are so beautiful,” says Pileggi. “So when the buyer of a $20 million estate sees a million dollar collection in rare spirits, well, it’s a bit of a wow.”

Among Collezione’s wide-ranging customer base are top-tier real estate brokers who wish to set themselves apart from the rank-and-file when it comes to the gifts they offer buyers and sellers at closing. Rather than giving their clients a standard bottle of Champagne, says Pileggi, “why not present them with a bottle of whisky from their birth year? Alternatively, a broker can invite a home buyer and the buyers’ friends to a tasting with Pileggi, either in Collezione’s own private tasting room or in the buyer’s new home.

“It would be a once-in-a lifetime experience,” says Pileggi. “I can promise you that very few of those clients – maybe 1% – will have ever taken a sip of whisky from a prize vintage year. The buyer will never forget the broker and the moment will be inscribed in their memory forever. Because at that point it’s not about the house anymore: it’s the experience that makes the moment special.” 

Collezione also curates spirits for other special occasions large and small from gatherings of friends to parties to weddings. “We can organize a bespoke tasting based on your interests,” says Pileggi. “Let’s say you have a wedding for a hundred guests. I can create the wine list, a champagne corner, and budget permitting, a fantastic whisky corner. Your wedding will be truly unforgettable.”

Pileggi tells his customers to think of him “as their personal whisky and spirits curator.” Typically, they buy a mix of spirits, some to drink and enjoy with friends, some to add to their collections, and some as an investment. He stresses that he is in the business of building long-term relationships, the kind that develop slowly and improve with age – like a classic vintage whisky.

To find out more….Collezione New York