ARRIVAL at the upper reaches of the wealth league seems to spark the desire to go back to the land; an association with the toil of agriculture or viticulture being the sign that you are definitively loaded but also in touch with nature.

If your rolling acres also offer sunshine and history, so much the better - which is why there is so much envy surrounding the 1,700-acre Tuscan estate belonging to Guy Hands, the financier whose Terra Firma business controls EMI.

The Villa Poggio Torselli near Florence is smaller than Hands' Italian fiefdom but it is a national monument. This early 18th-century palazzo in the Tuscan hills, now for sale for €66million (£49million), comes with 11 vineyards that produce a Chianti Classico, several other vintages and Grappa liquor. There are also 2,700 olive trees and numerous beehives: Poggio Torselli honey has aromas “redolent of acacia, hawthorn and thyme”.

As none of these activities are currently at full capacity, the buyer could take up agribusiness as full-time affair. But there are other options such as overseeing the ornamental garden, which is planted in late 17th-century style; features include a boulevard of cypresses.

The reasons why the owner - an industrialist who prefers to remain anonymous - should wish to leave are a mystery. The reason cannot be space: it seems that nobody has even counted how many rooms there are in the central block and the two wings. The location also seems ideal: just 25 minutes' drive from Florence, handy for Fra Angelico frescoes and Fendi accessories.

There can be no problems with the view, either. The surrounding vineyards spread over more than 30 hectares (75 acres) and from the palazzo, you can see the duomo - to be precise, the dome of Florence's cathedral, Santa Maria del Fiore, designed by Filippo Brunelleschi.

This world-famous structure is just one of the opportunities for cultural one-upmanship offered by the estate, which has been in existence since the late 15th century. Former inhabitants include the Strozzis, a clan almost as influential as the Medicis, and the Machiavellis, a family whose most famous member, Niccolo, wrote the Il Principe, a treatise on the exercise of power, one of the earliest management books.

Ilaria Alber-Glanstaetten, of Private Office, the agent handling the sale, prefers not to disclose why the owner is selling but adds that the firm's clients are cultural custodians who often wish to embark on a new restoration. Private Office, a division of Engel & Völkers, has just started to market the Poggio Torselli, although various US websites contain rumours that it was for sale last year. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were then mentioned as potential purchasers. They would certainly like it - who wouldn't? - but they are not rich enough. This is a billonaire's home, with management responsibilities - there is a workforce of 14 and several dozen more at harvest time.

Details: private-office.com, 020-7499 7776

FACT FILE

The Tuscan property market is stable, with a regular 5per cent annual price growth rate.

Last year a number of US owners sold their Tuscan homes to take advantage of favourable exchange rates.

For food-lovers, La Casellina trattoria, in Montebonello, comes highly recommended by the locals; Borgo San Jacopo and Enoteca Pinchiorri are two top restaurants in Florence.

For somewhere to stay while viewing Poggio Torselli, try the Residenza del Moro, in a 16th-century palazzo in Florence, or the Grotta Giusti Spa Resort in Monsummano Terme, built in 1880 to host such luminaries as Verdi.

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