Tuscany: Articles

Oct

13

Sting Opens his Tuscan Farm Shop

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Nestled on his 16th century Tuscan estate, Sting and wife Trudie Styler opened their new farm shop, ‘Tenuta Il Palagio’, in early August.  The shop sells organic olive oil, wine, honey and salami produced on the estate.

You may have read last year’s announcement that Sting would be producing and selling wine from the estate. They were launched in September and although I can’t find them online, you can purchase at their new shop.

Il Palagio, 20 miles south of Florence near the town of Figline Valdamo, has been a home to Sting and his family since 1997 with everything they could need… villa, a swimming pool, wooded areas, several small lakes, olive groves and a recording studio converted from an old barn.

See more photos of the opening event on Socialite Life. And swing by the shop next time you’re in Tuscany!

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Mar

12

New ‘Message in a Bottle’ … Everyone’s Favorite Police Man Enters Wine Business

Wine  Written by / 4 comments

Coming this fall to Britain and the U.S…. Sting, the ex Police man and British rocker, announced he’ll be producing 30,000 bottles of Chianti a year from his Tuscan estate, Il Palagio, near Figline Valdarno.

Sting in the cellar

Sting began bottling this new wine in 2007 … based on the Sangiovese grape with a touch of Cabernet and Merlot… and it should be on shelves in September.

What inspired the effort? His profound concern for the environment. He says, “I always use traditional methods – no pesticides. I am a farmer who looks after the land to nourish it and not to plunder it.”

Sting and his wife Trudie Styler, purchased the 16th century villa, south of Florence, in 1997. The 860 acres already an organic farm produce honey, olive oil, fruit, vegetables and Tuscan salami.

The future plans to bring a Chianti DOC and a Tuscan red.

The wine will also be available at a shop on the property that Sting will inaugurate by June.

You can see Sting on his Tuscan Estate on “Songs from the Labryinth – The Making of the Album.”Sting's Tuscan Estate

Update 14 Oct 2010: also see Sting Opens his Tuscan Farm Shop

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Jun

15

Favorite Red: Siepi from Castello di Fonterutoli

Wine  Written by / 0 comments

Enoteca
Two years after discovering this remarkable winery and its delicious wines, Siepi from Castello di Fonterutoli still reigns as my favorite red.

It was a chance stop on our Autumn 2006 trip to Tuscany … we were exploring Chianti for several days and still hadn’t picked up any olive oil to take home. Thomas Cook’s Drive Around Tuscany & Umbria claimed the Mazzei family wine estate in the village of Fonterutoli has some of the best. So per the book we drove past Castellina in Chianti looking for the village. Before we knew it we drove right through it… blink and you’ll miss it…its that tiny. We wound up driving through a field trying to follow the map back.

What a pleasant surprise… not for olive oil but for a full wine experience. As we pulled out of the field and re-entered the village, we saw the Enoteca de Fonterutoli sign on the right so we parked across the street. There were no other cars in the gravel lot but there was a tour bus… a potential red flag …we ventured past their new restaurant and across the street to the Enoteca (wine bar).

Leonardo, one of the hosts, was closing the Enoteca as we approached. He was about to take the bus tour group on an English tour of the winery and invited us to go along. What timing!!

This was our 3rd winery tour of the trip and by far the most authentic. This cute little town is 80% occupied by the Fonterutoli winery which explains why were walking into what looked like old houses that were actually cellars for barrels of wines.

After Leonardo’s interesting tour including a view of the new facilities (which are now open) we were back in the Enoteca with Leonardo and the tour group was boarding their bus. We had the tasting bar to ourselves and tasted a full flight of wine in their incredible new tasting bar for only 8 Euro.


My favorite… Siepi! Siepi is an award winning wine 50% Merlot and 50% Sangiovese … elegant, cherry, smooth.. perfect for a special occasion or splurge (as it is the most expensive wine I’ve ever purchased other than the 3 bottles of Dom I’ve bought in my life). This wine really makes you understand the great things that can be done with grapes!


Siepi

Visit their site for all the winery details including the restaurants and even accommodations…

Definitely worth a stop when you’re in Tuscany the Mazzei family has owned the winery since 1435!

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Jun

15

Highlights Of Italy

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We’ve lived in Europe for two years now and have been lucky enough to travel all over the countries but Italy is one we keep going back too. We just made our 5th trip to this beautiful and diverse country. Here’s our itinerary from Tuscany Autumn 2006 that includes my DON’T MISS highlights…

  • Lucca, Radda in Chianti,
  • Villa Vignamaggio,
  • Castello di Fonterutoli and a fabulous restaurant in Florence,
  • Ristorante Acqua Al Due (make reservations… its worth it!).

Download Tuscany Trip Sept/Oct 2006 (Word Document).

Tuscany also has great beaches… we visited the cute old art deco town of Viareggio (straight out from Pisa) and spent 2 wonderful days at Beach Club Irene across the street from the Hotel President soaking up the sun & enjoying delicious italian lunches on their patio.

Enjoy!

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