gramilano

Around Andrea Bocelli’s fam­ily home in Lajatico, in the province of Pisa, Andrea and his brother Alberto, who is more dir­ectly involved, are pur­su­ing work to improve the wines and the fam­ily tra­di­tion. A work done, as Andrea says, in hon­our of the memory of their father, Aless­andro, who in his time pas­sion­ately cul­tiv­ated the vines planted by his grand­father in the Tuscan region bor­der­ing that of Chianti. The wine, mainly san­giovese red, is called Le Terre di Sandro.

The grounds cover a sur­face area of around 120 hec­tares, of which a small part is wooded. Cer­eals are grown in rota­tion with fod­der and, most import­antly, the vines as well as olives. In 2000 the broth­ers planned the devel­op­ment of the wine sector.

Says Bocelli:

My brother and I have begun to try to make a ser­i­ous wine, and the first res­ults are extremely encour­aging. We do it in memory of babbo, who had con­tin­ued the work of my grand­par­ents and who had so much pas­sion. And I like wine, when it’s good. Wine is a uni­ver­sal rem­edy when we’re tired, and full of prob­lems to solve. I call them bottles of happiness.

When I return home from my long work trips away, a bottle of wine from my land, placed there, in the centre of the table, gives almost unpar­alleled joy. It takes me back in time, brings back the memory of my father, his strong, calm voice, prais­ing the fruit of his vine­yard and his work, savouring that nec­tar with almost reli­gious respect and fervour. What I would pay for him to be able to appre­ci­ate the res­ults achieved over these past few years. I’m cer­tain he would be immensely proud. I will always find peace and serenity mongst the rows of vines, at that table where I drank our wine in the com­pany of my father so many times, with Alberto, my brother, my mother and all those dear to me.

Bocelli Fam­ily Wines has expan­ded their pro­duc­tion to intro­duce Bocelli Pro­secco and Bocelli San­giovese to the US where it’s now avail­able in states like New York, Texas, Illinois, Wash­ing­ton and Ore­gon. Bottles sell for around $20.

Bocelli is not the first celebrity to put his name on a wine bottle. Oth­ers who have entered the wine­mak­ing busi­ness include Drew Bar­ry­more, Ant­o­nio Banderas, Francis Ford Cop­pola, and even AC/DC. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s home in the South of France, Château Miraval, also comes with a winery that pro­duces white, red and rosé wines!