Sting holds wine tasting session for women in Luxembourg

Sting rocked the Rockhal on Saturday night but music wasn’t the only item on his agenda during his visit to Luxembourg at the weekend.

He and his wife, Trudie Styler, spent an afternoon sharing wine from their Tuscany vineyard after organising a wine tasting session at In Vino Gildas in Belair.

Around 20 people were at the event – all women. Because only women had been invited.

Only women invited to wine tasting

Venue owner, Gildas Royer, said: “As I was putting the guest list of my best clients together the list was getting longer and longer and I had more than 50 people on there and it was becoming complicated. So I decided to only invite their wives.

“I find that women are more spontaneous when it comes to wine tasting. Often, men want to show that they already know everything while women are more intuitive. Plus, a woman’s palate is more developed than a man’s.”

While waiting for Sting and his wife to arrive after they were held back due to their private jet not being able to leave on time from Geneva, clients and journalists tasted a glass of rosé from Sting’s Il Palagio vineyard.

‘Beppe is my favourite wine. I have some for breakfast’

The domain produces six different wines – one rosé, one white and six red wines. Each one, except for the rosé, has been given the name of one of Sting’s songs.

After they arrived the wine tasting started with a rosé called Beppe.

Sting said: “This rosé, Beppe, is my favourite. I even have some for breakfast. It is actually breakfast time for me!

“It’s called Beppe after a man who worked at the vineyard for 59 years and we wanted to pay tribute to him.

“But please don’t spit it out, that would be a waste!”

And so everyone drank the wine without spitting in the bucket.

Wines named after Sting’s songs

“Why did we buy the vineyard in Tuscany? Because my wife told me to buy it” he added. “We have been together for 35 years and that’s how it works.

“She’s a farmer’s daughter, she can explain that better than me.”

When they discovered Il Palagio in 1999 the 150-year-old family business was failing and the couple decided to take it over.

Sting and Trudie had already transformed their house in the UK into an organic farm, where they raised their four children.

The wine tasting continued with a 2016 white wine (vermentino, sauvignon and trebbiano), called Message in a Bottle.

‘I like wine but music is my life’

“The wine is an ancient sacrament, it’s such an old culture,” Trudie said. “It’s a communion and we are happy to be part of it. Thanks for being here to share this moment with us.”

Sting explained he is, in fact, an amateur when it comes to wine: “I like wine but music is my life. I can’t talk about wine flavours.”

The other wines are called When We Dance 2015, Casino Delle Vie 2014 and Sister Moon 2012.

Sting and Trudie now live in New York and Sting is currently on tour in Europe. They will present their wines at each stop on the tour.