Should any wine lover tire of a bottle of red from the Alentejo, they would do well to turn instead to Sister Moon, an Italian wine from the Tuscan estate of the British rock star Sting.
The robust red, named after one of his songs, has been declared one of Italy’s finest 100 wines.
The wine was "silky and smooth, with mature tannins and hints of chocolate, liquorice and blackberries," said Stevie Kim, the director of OperaWine, which organises a prestigious wine fair held in Verona in April and which gave the accolade.
Sister Moon is a blend of Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes matured for two years in French oak barrels giving an alcohol content just shy of 15%. The wine sells for £28 (€36) a bottle.
Wine has been produced on the 900 acre Il Palagio estate for centuries. The performer turned his hand to it some 15 years ago when he bought the property and brought in two experts, Alan York, an American, and Paolo Caciorgna, a Tuscan.
“I’m a beer drinker culturally. I’m from the north of England so I drank beer from age 16 and younger. I didn’t have a glass of wine until I was in my late twenties,” Sting told Wine Enthusiast magazine.
“I was doing shows and the promoters would often give me a bottle of wine as a gift. Since I knew nothing about it and because I didn’t drink wine, I’d give the bottles to my roadies.”
In addition to Sister Moon, he has three others reds in production – When We Dance and Message in a Bottle recall two of his hits. The fourth, Casino delle Vie, translates as “little house by the roads” but is often used to mean “the muddling of the ways”.
