| Sting and Trudie, the couple known to most by their mononyms, bought Il Palagio, a 350-hectare estate in the Chianti Colli Fiorentini region in 1997, and have been gradually developing it ever since. They – and some of their four children – tend to stay at the estate mostly in August, but the once-abandoned buildings now house a thriving year-round industry. In addition to the 10 wines produced in the vineyard, you can also get Il Palagio olive oil and honey, and the site hosts a farm shop, pizzeria and public music venue. 
© Paolo Prendin As that wine becomes available in the UK for the first time, Ajesh Patalay went to see the couple and sip a taste of the portfolio. He found them in good humour, gently competitive and still ambitious: Sting is restaging his 2014 musical The Last Ship, in which he will reprise the lead role, while Styler is producing Scarlett Johansson’s debut film as a director, which will premiere at Cannes Film Festival this month. The image of Sting, now 73, quaffing glasses of Roxanne, his 2024 Bianco, while noodling on his guitar conjures an almost comical picture of his astonishing success. But few could begrudge him or Styler their oh-so-comfortable artistic lives. Both come from working-class families and made their way through their respective industries with tenacity and grit. For all their fruity, tantric sexual chemistry, their hearts are in the right place. Moreover, they’re still together. The eternal power couple. As Sting jokes: “I think part of the brand of this [place] is the romance of a couple who’ve been married for 400 years.” 
© Moss Ajesh appears twice in this issue, writing also about blue food. When I first spotted a new blueberry and spirulina breakfast pot at Pret A Manger last month, I was instantly repelled. But is mould-coloured food a disgusting culinary aberration, or something we should view afresh? Ajesh makes a reasonably compelling case for overcoming the euw of blue. Honey, I shrunk the Martini |
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© Millie Tang More drinks: this week Alice Lascelles looks at the rise of the micro-cocktail, a world of teeny-weeny Martinis and Old Fashioneds served in glasses thimble-sized. The new vogue for smaller drinks tends to call for a suite of tasting menus, where rather than glugging back a tumbler, patrons are instead offered a “flight” of drinks. I can’t decide if this is better for one’s unit intake – more moderate, considered drinking – or whether so many tiny temptations means you just lose count. Which New York members’ club are you? |
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© Nina Westervelt/WWD via Getty Images Considering spending your money on a private club membership in New York? Make no commitments before you’ve checked out our latest chart. If London has long been crammed with members-only establishments (mostly designed to libate the old boys’ network), New York is now close behind with clubs that speak to the new-gen mood. Which ones are the best? And which serves the hottest members? Christina Ohly Evans examines the options, and sizes up their charms. |
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