A painting that offers you a drink
Caravaggio's Bacchus — and seven Italian wines that follow the painter's road.
- When
- Saturday, 14 November 2026 · 7 pm, about three hours
- Where
- Our home in Phuket — the address comes with your “yes”
- Who
- Seven friends around one table, one bottle each
- Hosts
- Andrey tells the story and cooks Italian, Alyona pours the wine
Why this painting
Look at his hand: Bacchus is holding the glass out to you. Wine is painted right into the picture — the glass, the carafe, the fruit going soft on the table. And hidden in the carafe there is something almost nobody notices. We'll show you where.
The man who painted it lived like one of his own canvases: Rome at twenty, street people as models, brawls, a killing, a death sentence, flight to Naples, Malta and Sicily. He died at 38 on his way back to ask for a pardon. Andrey opens with fifteen minutes of story. After that the evening belongs to the table.
Not a lecture
Nobody sits and listens all night. Every guest brings a bottle — and a few sentences about it: the region, the grape, what that place meant to Caravaggio. Look it up in a book, on Wikipedia or ask ChatGPT — under each wine there is a ready question for it. Three or four sentences are plenty; the rest of the table will argue, add and pour.
How the evening goes
- 7:00
Arrive, look at the painting, first glass - 7:20
The story of Caravaggio and his Bacchus - 7:40
Your turn: each guest opens their bottle and tells the table about its region in a few sentences - 8:30
Dinner and an argument or two - 9:30
We vote on the painter for the next evening
Your ticket: one bottle
Instead of a ticket, every guest brings one bottle from the list below. The wines follow Caravaggio's road from Lombardy to the Tuscan coast where he died. Pick a stop and put your name on it, so everyone sees who promised what.
Someone already promised your favourite? Take it anyway. A name on the list is a promise, not a guarantee that its owner shows up — and two bottles of a good wine never ruined an evening.
At the evening you introduce your bottle in a few sentences — the link under each wine asks ChatGPT for you. All bottles are at Spirit House (delivery in Phuket), 870–1,200 ฿. Any bottle of the same wine from another shop is just as good. We bring the Prosecco.
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Plans changed? Take your name off by Wednesday 11 November, so the others know.
Three questions for the table
- Is Bacchus inviting us — or mocking us?
- Would you hang it at home?
- Can a terrible person make beautiful art?
What to bring
Your bottle and curiosity. No art history needed — and no wine knowledge either.