Close your eyes and imagine: a 500th century estate located into Tuscany hills (exactly in the South of Florence, in Figline Valdarno) and one of the most famous rockstars of our era falling in love with it and making this place his home away from home, improving the precious gifts of this land and sharing them among others.
It looks like a Dolce Vita tales, but it’s the living reality of Il Palagio from more than two decades. Back in 1999, the world acclaimed rockstar Sting together with his wife Trudie Styler purchased this 350 hectare property, which includes a fabulous villa, 5 guesthouses, olive trees, vineyard, lakes, swimming pool, a tennis court and an organic farm.
Hospitality here it’s taken seriously, whether it’s for a simple dinner at the exclusive Wine bar, for a luxury stay combined with private tours or for a special event such as a wedding. Sting and his wife promotes a friendly Italian style approach and their love is one of the major ingredients for the success of this ambitious project.
Life at Il Palagio goes smooth and pleasant; surrounded by nature, Sting family grew among the years, and here many of his successful albums have been put to life, together with some works involving cinema by his wife. At the same time, they started a great yet challenging work to improve farm’s production; its organic products (such as cold cuts, many types of honey and a great quality olive oil) are now available both online and in the nearby shop.
Another demanding segment was to uproot and replace 11 hectares of vineyard, with the major objective to produce great wines starting from local grape varietals such as Sangiovese and Canaiolo, but also including international varietals such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.
In order to improve quality as much as possible, Sting and his wife decided to appoint the international expert Riccardo Cotarella (actively consulting more than 90 projects in the world, as of today) as official wine maker of the winery, who was more than happy to accept this challenge; I had the great pleasure to join an exclusive tasting of the new wines.
The labels I managed to taste are tributes to both the estate and Sting masterpieces; the different types of wines shows several structures which makes them perfect to pair with different kinds of food and both special and everyday occasions.
Casino delle vie is a gentle Chianti blend; the name reminds to one of the properties of the estate and it tastes light but intense at the same time. Sister Moon is the first Tuscan IGT ever produced in the estate; it is a biodynamic blend of Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon aged for 18 months in French oaks; When we dance is 95% made of Sangiovese and its ruby color makes it elegant both visually and at the palate; last but not least; Message in a bottle is full of cherry, blackberries and spices notes, a perfect wine to be shared with friends and paired with meat. All these tre labels are named after Sting masterpieces.
Despite the tasting was conducted online, it was for me a great experience to be so close to one of my lifetime myths, and even from the screen I was able to feel his passion for this project and his love for my wonderful country.
Very Wine Confidential. Very Food Confidential.