“Sacred Love” Rosso Toscana IGT 2021

Tenuta Il Palagio | Tuscany
Tenuta Il Palagio srl | Via Francesco Corteccia 28/1 | IT 50127 Firenze

29473121 · 0,75 l · 62,67 €/l · Price (DE) incl. VAT, excl. Shippingavailable immediately

On 11 September 2001, a concert was to take place in the hills of Figline Valdarno. Sting was standing on the stage of his Tuscan villa when the news arrived from New York. He played anyway – not as entertainment, but as therapy. That evening, the feeling of emptiness and the search for meaning gave rise to an album two years later: "Sacred Love", a meditation on love as the only answer to a world in chaos. "We have to go back to that basic thing," said Sting at the time, "mother love, father love, husband love, wife love, child love – because when you don't have that, all hell breaks loose."

It is no coincidence that this title now adorns Il Palagio's most precious wine. "Sacred Love" comes from a single vineyard, barely larger than one hectare, whose Merlot vines have been rooted in the soil of the Valdarno for over two decades – the same area that made Petrolo and Sette Ponti icons of Tuscan Merlot. The yields are radically low: one kilogramme per vine, no more. What remains is essence. This also reveals the difference to many celebrity wines: no marketing façade, no artificial greenwashing, but a project that Sting and Trudie Styler have been pursuing since 1997 with the same rigour as their work for the Rainforest Foundation. Seven years of restoration before the first commercial bottle left the estate. Biodynamic cultivation from the outset, not as an afterthought. Riccardo Cotarella, one of Italy's most respected Oenologist, puts it in a nutshell: "The passion and the love that Sting and Trudie are putting into this project guarantees that the quality will be very, very high."

In the glass, a Merlot of almost impenetrable ruby red colour with violet reflections – dark as a moonless night over Tuscany. The nose alternates between violet and blackberry, then slate, dark earth and a hint of black truffle. The palate is velvety opulence without heaviness: concentrated fruit, polished tannins, an aftertaste of cocoa and espresso that lingers for minutes. Holy love – the title promises a lot. And this wine keeps it. SUPERIORE.DE

"The firmness and refinement of the texture is really beautiful, with refined tannins and a lovely mouthfeel. It’s medium-bodied with polished tannins and a flavorful finish. Some orange peel and light chocolate. It’s long and very pretty. Elegant is the word. This needs another two or three years to open and come together." James Suckling