Sting bought a 16th-century villa in Figline in 1997, and over the years the former Police-man transformed the surrounding 860 acres into an organic farm where he produces honey, olive oil, fruit, veggies, Tuscan salami and, of course, vino.

Lots of vino. Sting said he is producing two wines – a Chianti DOC and a Tuscan red based on the Sangiovese grape, and that 30,000 bottles of the Chianti ship this fall. Sting made the announcement while at a public meeting, saying he wants to “defend Tuscan agriculture and bio-diversity,” according to The London Times.

Said Gordon Sumner, AKA Sting:

“When I came here to Figline I wanted first of all to feed my family. 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.”

Sting hasn’t announced the brand names chosen for the labels, but his estate manager, Paolo Rossi, did say the “Sting Wine” was made two years ago and the first bottles would appear on store shelves in September. Rossi described the wine as “rock music wine” with “a bit of swing and a bit of international pop thanks to the addition of Cabernet and Merlot grapes.”

Hmmm… Something tells us this is a tad better in quality than the vintage MD 20/20 we keep in our wine cellar and only serve to special guests on the most special of occasions.  And it’s probably much better than the Nightrain we serve at company functions.

Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler, will donate a percentage of sales to causes the couple support, like the Soil Association, which supports organic farming, and the Rainforest Foundation, which supports – you guessed it – rainforests.

Click here to read The London Times article.

For Sting’s Web site, click here.