2021 Palafreno, Querciabella

The Velvet Horse of Tuscany

Palafreno is Merlot with a Renaissance wardrobe and a pulse of Tuscan sunlight. Deep, polished and beautifully composed, it opens with black cherry, damson, blueberry and violet, then gathers darker notes of liquorice, graphite, cocoa, warm spice and new leather. It is generous, but never heavy. There is a real sense of poise here, like power carried with perfect posture.

The palate is plush and sculpted, with ripe dark fruit wrapped around fine, savoury tannins and a bright line of Tuscan freshness. It has the gloss of a great Super Tuscan, but also the lift and detail that make Querciabella so compelling: mineral tension, floral perfume and a long, quietly commanding finish. A wine for decanting, lingering and slightly lowering your voice.

For when you want something grand, but not loud.
Pairs with slow-cooked beef shin, roast lamb, wild mushroom ragù, truffle risotto, or aged pecorino.
If this wine were… a horse, it would be the one leading the parade through Florence at dusk.

Querciabella is one of Tuscany’s benchmark estates, renowned for marrying Super Tuscan ambition with an unusually pure, precise and environmentally minded approach. Founded in Chianti Classico in 1974, the estate has built its reputation on meticulous vineyard work, organic and biodynamic principles, and wines that combine depth with clarity rather than excess. Palafreno sits at the very top of that vision: a rare, single-variety Merlot made only when the vintage allows, showing Querciabella at its most polished, expressive and exacting.