Bocelli at OTTO Restaurant

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Bocelli Family Wines

The Italian tenor and his glamorous wife Veronica Berti arrived at the exclusive event, hosted by restaurateur John Fink at his Woolloomooloo restaurant, in dramatic style. When a glass was knocked over soon after, Fink, never lost for words, said the maestro had made “smashing entrance” and proceeded to lead an attentive restaurant crowd in a round of applause. Bocelli had earlier that day joined Delta Goodrem at a photo shoot. Goodrem has been joining the Italian tenor on stage to sing duets during his current Australian tour.The pair performed together in Brisbane on Tuesday night as he kicked off his Australian tour.Critics and fans praised Goodrem’s vocal talents — with lyrics in both English and Italian. She performed It’s Time to Say Goodbye and When I Fall in Love with ­Bocelli and the pair also slow danced on stage.Bocelli had his audience mesmerised by the time he welcomed his wife and baby daughter Virginia to the stage at the end of the show.At Otto the day after, ­Bocelli was not touching the excellent wine on offer.“I can’t drink, because in Italy, they say, ‘Drink makes you sing, but not very well’,” he joked.The lunch was almost at the point of being cancelled as the Bocelli wine shipment was held up by customs, only to be released yesterday morning.For nearly three centuries, the Bocelli family has made classic Italian wines on their small estate in Tuscany. Edi “Mamma” Bocelli, still works in the fields, carefully hand-tying vines along with Andrea’s younger brother Alberto.