“Sacred Love” Rosso Toscana IGT 2022

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

29473122 · 0,75 l · 60,00 €/l · Price (DE) incl. VAT, excl. Shippingavailable immediately

On 11 September 2001, a concert was due to take place in the hills of Figline Valdarno. Sting was on stage at his Tuscan villa when the news came in from New York. He played anyway – not for entertainment, but as a form of therapy. Two years later, that evening – the sense of emptiness and the search for meaning – gave rise to an album: *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's love, father's love, a husband's love, a wife's love, a child's love – because when you don't have that, all hell breaks loose."

It is no coincidence that this particular name 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 soils of the Valdarno for over two decades – the very same region that also made Petrolo and Sette Ponti icons of Tuscan Merlot. Yields are extremely low: one kilogram per vine, no more. What remains is the essence. This is also where the difference to many celebrity wines becomes apparent: no marketing façade, no contrived greenwashing, but a project that Sting and Trudie Styler have been pursuing since 1997 with the same dedication as their work for the Rainforest Foundation. Seven years of restoration before the first commercial bottle left the estate. Biodynamic cultivation from the very start, not as an afterthought. Riccardo Cotarella, one of Italy's most respected Oenologist, sums it up: "The passion and love that Sting and Trudie are putting into this project guarantee that the quality will be very, very high."

In the glass, this Merlot displays an almost impenetrable ruby red with violet highlights – as dark as a moonless night over Tuscany. The nose shifts between violets and blackberries, then slate, dark earth and a hint of black truffle. On the palate, it offers velvety opulence without any heaviness: concentrated fruit, polished tannins, and a finish of cocoa and espresso that lingers for minutes on end. "Holy Love" – the name promises a great deal. And this wine delivers. SUPERIORE.DE