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Sting performing at Madison Square Garden in Aug 2007.
Photo: Wikipedia |
The former lead singer of the British rock band Police, Sting bought his first piece of land in Tuscany in 1997 for about $ 3.5 m, reinforcing it with another 500 hectares for $ 6.5 million in 2002.
Tenuta Il Pallagio is an organic farm estate in Figline Valdarno, 30 kms. south of Florence where he already produces honey, olive oil, fruits , vegetables and salami.The estate has a swimming pool, six small lakes, vineyards, olive groves and a recording studio. He has a private plane at the Florence airport to commute.
About 2500 cases of Chianti produced on the property will be sold in shops and the property in September, and exported mainly to UK and the US, Paolo Rossi, the estate manager said on Thursday. A 2008 Chianti may also be on sale subject to some tests, says Rossi.
The environment conscious 57-year old rock star is keen to use sustainable methods of farming. ‘I also wanted to use agriculture with practices that would nourish the land and not deplete the land and so we went to traditional methods with farming, we got rid of pesticides, we shunned monoculture, and it works, the farm is also a garden," he reportedly said on a local TV station.
In a meeting at the town theatre earlier this week at Figline Valdarno, Sting talked about his love for the Tuscan countryside and said he feels like he is home. "Yesterday when I landed in Florence, I gave a sigh of relief," he said reportedly according to the Italian paper ANSA. ‘I love this place because nature offers cues for reflection and animates my artistic inspiration.’
Incidentally, Sting appeared with his former band at the Grammy Awards in February 2007 and later performed with the band on a reunion tour from May 2007 to August 2008 when he appeared in Madison Square Garden in New York.
He also performed at one of the inaugural balls honouring President Barack Obama on January 20 this year. "Brand New Day" was the final song of the night he sang with Stevie Wonder on harmonica for one of the balls Neighborhood Ball, one of these balls.
Sting is the latest to join celebrities like Mick Hucknall of Simply Red, Jim Kerr, of Simple Minds both of whom have vineyards in Sicily. The film director Francis Ford Coppola makes wine in Sonoma County, California. Cliff Richard started making wine with Vida Nova label in his Portuguese estate a few years ago. Celebrities like Paris Hilton have come out with their own labels like Rich Prosecco in her case. |