Mahatma Wines: The Pearl of La Perla

Marya Valli

In a gorgeous valley among the enchanted Dolomite mountains, where Italian hospitality meets Austrian organization in a flowering of Ladin culture, the Costa family welcomes guests to its hotel, La Perla. A member of The Leading Hotels of the World, this family-run property is overwhelming in its authentic warmth and rustic beauty.

Within it lies Mahatma Wine, the name given to one of the world’s most remarkable wine cellars. That it resides within La Perla is like finding a pearl within a pearl. Son Michil Costa created this cellar to share his passion for, and unique vision of, wine in all its glory—the result is unlike any cellar you’ve ever seen!

Great Soul

Why Mahatma Wine? Michil believes that wine is alive, that it has a soul. Mahatma means “great soul” in Sanskrit, and with more than 28,000 bottles, this cellar has a great soul indeed. In mountain solidarity with minority cultures, the cellar is dedicated to a foundation that helps Tibetan children.

A guided journey through the cellar begins with sensory immersion as colours, temperature, and the rolling floor and ceiling lead visitors into Michil’s unique philosophy of wine and of life. You might meet the Bordeaux crus, dance with Champagne and soak up Frank Zappa with Burgundy, but the cellar’s true pearl is its collection of Sassicaia—the largest private collection on the planet—where a little tongue-in-cheek genuflection reveals one of the first bottles of this iconic Super Tuscan.

Part philosophical musing, part Disneyland, and all dedicated to the love of the best things in life—love, sharing, great wine—Mahatma Wine is one of a kind.