An Italian Heir Is Accusing Sting Of Slander For Saying He Was Tricked Into Buying A Wine Vineyard 

An international incident has rocked Italian relations as 69(nice)-year-old Sting has slighted a duke’s family by hurling a “slanderous” accusation. Sting suggested in an interview that the late duke, Simone Vincenzo Velluti Zati di San Clemente, was as much a liar as he was a long-named man. Sting accused the duke of shadiness by selling him a wine vineyard that the duke told him produced Chianti wine when it in fact produced Barolo wine. And the vineyard was a Palagio! The only wine I know comes in a box, so this is all going over my head. But the duke’s son called Sting’s words “poisonous” and isn’t sure about whether or not to “take further action.” …Is there a wine authenticity court in Italy?

The Independent says this all started because of a story Sting told to weekly Italian publication Sette, which came out on August 13. Sting said that back in 1997, he was convinced into buying a Palagio winery near Florence, Italy. The owner of the vineyard, Duke di San Clemente, gave Sting an “excellent” glass of red wine which was allegedly from the vineyard so he bought the place. Sting believed the glass of wine was a Chianti when it was not. #JustRichPeopleThings. But Sting believes he was bamboozled!

The singer, however, said it later turned out that the wine was a Barolo from Italy’s Piedmont region, and not a local Tuscan Chianti at all…

Sting, in the interview, said he only realized the truth about the wine’s origins after he had purchased the Palagio estate, including its vineyards, and he noticed guests pouring the Palagio red into the bushes rather than drinking it. He said he and his wife became determined to “avenge” themselves by producing “an excellent wine also from the Palagio vineyards.”

…The magazine labeled the move “a hoax” and claimed the singer “had been tricked” into the purchase.

The duke died at the age of 86 in 2012, but his 45-year-old son has got his back and is livid at Sting’s stinging accusation.

The duke’s son, Simone Vincenzo Velluti Zati, defended his father’s good name and said it would have been “completely out of character” for the duke to have passed off Barolo wine for Chianti wine. Perish the thought! He also slammed Sting for promoting a new organic pizzeria through the slanderous interview saying it was “in poor taste.” He wrote this about Sting’s allegations:

“[They] not only do not respond to the truth, they are highly damaging to the memory of my father and to my reputation.”

Thems slanderous words! Sting ended up apologizing in a letter on August 24. He offered his “sincere and unequivocal apologies,” and said that the story “as reported was disrespectful to the memory of your distinguished father.”

Sting called the duke “an honorable man, who never misled me,” and said the anecdote was instead self-deprecating, highlighting the fact that 25 years ago he was unable “to distinguish a Barolo from a bar of soap.”

Wow, now I’m offended. Like a regular soap bar or a Bed, Bath & Beyond one because that’s different. But we’ll see what Simone Vincenzo Jr. decides to do because he told the Associated Press that the apology was a “necessary act” but was hardly convinced, and had not yet decided on taking any further action.

I wonder what the punishment for Italian slander is? Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not as bad as having to kiss Andy Cohen.

Pic: WENN/Avalon