After tasting and taking notes – the Chianti When We Dance is particularly magic – Sting and his wife Trudie Styler descended into the wine-tasting event, organised by Vintage Roots, keen to discuss their wine.
“I love the experience of seeing people taste our wine. Before they taste, they are usually sceptical – ‘just what we need, another celebrity wine’,” said Sting. “But, I enjoy our own wine, I drink our wine, and we want to share it. It’s actually my favourite wine”.
The organically certified vineyard, based on the ex-Police lead’s Villa il Palagio, overlooks the Tuscan hills.
Wine created at the farm includes Beppe Rosato, Message in a Bottle Bianco, Message in a Bottle, Sister Moon, When we Dance and Casino delle Vie.
How it all started
Sting and Trudie had been looking for a house in Italy for around 10 years and fell in love with the villa which, at the time, was “run down with nothing growing”.
“The Duke who sold it to us said we must drink some of the wine made from the vineyard. It was lovely, and right away we thought ‘this is it’”, said Sting.
It later transpired a couple of years later the Duke had duped the star, and given him a French wine instead.
“I was determined to take my revenge, and try and make a good wine. That’s when we got Alan York in,” he continued.
“We eventually sent the Duke a box of Sister Moon with a review. He died sometime after. That wasn’t because of the wine though.”
Create something unique
York was the person who told Sting and Trudie they could do something truly “unique” with their vineyard, which “really rang a bell” with Sting.
“We’re not there yet, but we create something that is unique to us,” he said.
Sting’s favourite of his offerings in the Beppe, a rosé wine named after a man who has worked on the vineyard all his life.
“The best acoustic is in the wine cellar,” said Sting. “I go and play the guitar down there and sing – It may make the wine worse but I like to do it.”
When asked if they would create any more wines, he answered: “Well, I have plenty of songs to name them after”.
A Roxanne wine will soon be released in the US – which is the same as Europe’s Message in a Bottle.
He continued: “Wine is like music. A good wine gives a story, it has a narrative.”
Passion in the key
About what makes their wine special, Trudie said: “All our wine is really clean, we don’t use pesticides, we do really care about wine. Our team are particularly good, they know what they are talking about, they love their work.
“When we go into the vineyard it is clear they are really passionate about what they are doing – no one is doing it as just a job, it’s a real skill.”
Sting added: “I love a glass of wine coming off stage because it brings me down to earth, puts me back into the soil.”