Sting: pay to pick my grapes

sting_estate
Finding labor to perform the annual harvest at a vineyard can be hard. Many wineries compete for migrant laborers at a time when there are lots of other fruit to bring in; we’ve even seen wineries recruit students to pick the grapes. But Sting doesn’t have such difficulties: the Englishman in Tuscany is charging people $350 a day to come and work in his vineyard.

The paying pickers would arrive at a leisurely 11:30 at Il Palagio, Sting and Trudie Styler’s 900-acre estate. After a picnic on a lawn, with possibly a game on the giant chess set, the paying help can then start laboring for up to four hours. Then, freshen up (no word if the pool is available), and, before heading out, try a sampling of the estates wines, including the rosso “Message in a Bottle,” which sells in the US for about $20. No word if the estate’s owners will be around but guest workers will get a talk from the estate manager about the vineyards and soil, as well as winemaking.

If you can’t get enough time under the Tuscan sun, you can go back in November and harvest Sting’s olives.

Il Palagio web site

4 Responses to “Sting: pay to pick my grapes”


  1. Best reply from the Twitterverse (so far) was from ‏@ColdMud:

    @drvino “Every grape you take, Every bin you make, Every twig you break, Every bunch you take, You’ll be paying me.”


  2. Very disappointing. Why would Sting need even more money than he already has? Worse yet, why would you charge people to help you MAKE more money? Ridiculous, absurd, greedy. My favorite band of all time has now been irreversibly tainted.


  3. I agree, this is just ridiculous. They don’t have enough money?? And $350/ day??


  4. I’ve always enjoyed listening to Sting and had a great time at one of his concerts in the Bay area a few years back.

    I guess if people are willing to pay money to work his vineyard, they are the ones with the problem. Seems crazy to me!


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