Trudie Styler and her rock-star husband, Sting, purchased their Tuscan estate Il Palagio in 1997. But their love affair with Italy began well before that. Addressing the crowd in their second New York Wine Experience appearance, Styler shared stories of the couple’s romantic visits to Italy, starting with their first trip together in 1984, when she was pregnant with their second child. “With writing songs and producing babies, Italy certainly gets our creative juices flowing!”
They’d long wanted a home in Italy, spending years looking for the right house before discovering Il Palagio, about 20 miles south of Florence. “We felt like somehow we’d come home,” said Styler.
With no winemaking experience but a deep appreciation and respect for the land, Styler and Sting replanted their neglected vineyards, to a mix of Italian and French grapes, namely Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. They started producing wines with the 2007 vintage and quickly earned outstanding scores with their Sister Moon blend, which they poured at the 2016 Wine Experience.
This year, they brought their new flagship cuvée to the Wine Experience: Toscana 1530 2019 (92 points, $100), a Sangiovese-Merlot blend. And last year, they hired renowned Italian winemaker Riccardo Cotarella. “The passion and the love for my country that Sting and Trudie are putting into this project guarantees that the quality of the wines will be very, very high,” Cotarella said in a video message played during the tasting.
Styler then welcomed Sting to the stage. “I do hope you’ll keep drinking that wine,” Sting said to the audience, who were happy to oblige as he closed the Wine Experience with performances of “Message in a Bottle,” “Englishman in New York,” “Fields of Gold” and “Every Breath You Take.”
