Address: Agriturismo Il Rigo – Loc. Casabianca San Quirico d’Orcia – 53027 – Siena
Phone: +39 0577 897291/send a fax +39 0577 898236
Website: www.agriturismoilrigo.com
Il Rigo farmhouse is in Tuscany, 40 Km south of Siena, along the old Pilgrim Route to Rome, in the heart of the Orcia valley. We are an excellent centre for visiting Tuscany, as well as Umbria and Lazio offering a relaxing and peaceful holiday. Within a few kilometres there’s a concentration of small historic towns (Montalcino, Pienza, Montepulciano, Monticchiello, Rocca d’Orcia), which make the Valdorcia an important centre for wine tasting and touring, art and culture.
Il Rigo is located in a particularly good center from a food and wine point of view. Some of the most famous Tuscan red wines are produced in this area, including the Rosso and Brunello di Montalcino, the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Chianti “Colli senesi” and Orcia Rosso. All these wines are included on our comprehensive wine list offered at “Il Rigo” and we also organize special tasting sessions.
“Il Rigo” is recommended by numerous Italian and foreign guide books, including Michelin, Karen Brown, Alastair Sawday’s Special Places to Stay, Caffelletto B&B in Italy, Penguin Walking and eating in Tuscany and Umbria, Guide du Routard .
On July 1, 2004 the Valdorcia became a UNESCO World Heritage Site thanks to its beautiful landscape and careful development. “Il Rigo” which takes its name from a small stream which runs nearby, is located in the heart of the Orcia valley, between S. Quirico, Pienza and Bagno Vignoni.
Surrounded by the softly rolling Sienese clay hills, the farmhouse looks out across a sea of cornfields, punctuated here and there by small woods, colourful patches of broom and the pale gulleys that are typical of this area. At present “Il Rigo” produces organically grown wheat, hay, pulses and broad beans on rotation. Near to the village of S. Quirico there’s an olive grove, the olives harvested are cold-pressed in the ancient olive mill owned by part of the family.
We have furnished “Il Rigo” like a house, using old farm furniture, some of which are real antiques. The rooms, distributed between the farmhouses Casabianca and Poggio Bacoca, and looking out over the surrounding countryside with views of Pienza and Monte Amiata, are each unique and differ from each other in furnishings and decoration. We wanted to conserve the romantic characteristics of old country houses down to the last detail, such as flowered bedspreads and embroidered sheets. The rooms all have double beds (in some rooms another single bed can be added) with private bathrooms and telephones. We chose not to put televisions in the rooms, in order not to disturb the peace of this place, but there are lots of books and magazines available, and besides, we think it’s nicer to chat over a glass of wine.
We offer our guests bed, breakfast and dinner. Occasionally we may also offer lunch on request. Every day the menu changes, according to the season and its produce and local tradition. In spring we serve fresh cheese and greens from our farm, courgettes, peppers and tomatoes in summer and hot soups, wild boar and venison in the winter months. We only serve fresh pasta, cakes and puddings made by us. At certain times of the year we also organize cookery courses and wine tastings for our guests.
Cooking courses
We invite you to join us in preparing typical Tuscan dishes, like “crostini”, soups, meat stew, wonderful winter dishes to be enjoyed all together around the table. Of course, we will prepare fresh pasta, ravioli, tagliatelle and our traditional “pici”. Every season has its fruits and its traditions that we will make use of during the preparation of our dishes. In October it’s possible to visit the saffron fields in a farm nearby, in November you could also attend the olive harvest and visit the family olive mill, and take part in the search for truffles. In the 4 day course we prepare 4 different complete menu. It is possible to organize it for minimum 6 people. Classes begin at 5.30 p.m. and finish around 8.30 p.m. After you are invited to sit at the table and enjoy the dinner based on what we have prepared together. 1 day class can be organized on request, for minimum 2 people. You can also ask at the reception when you arrive.
1 user commented in " Il Rigo Agriturismo "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackMy wife and I spent four days here in the summer of 2007 and wished we could have stayed longer; much longer. The proprietors make you feel like part of the family and the environment and ambience is right out of a dream. Our rooms were in a building overlooking the Orcia Valley, with fields of wheat, roaming goats, small farm houses and everything else you would see in paintings from the region.
We spent hours relaxing outside our rooms, breathing in the scents of lavender, rosemary and other fresh herbs that filled the air. During the days, we toured the local wineries including Montalcino, stopped by Pienza to sample cheeses and truffles in the historic walled city and made time to visit the Roman baths. Despite all of the dining options available, none could compare to the meals provided by our hosts. The multi-course “experiences” were served by smiling staff and family, the wines were fabulous and affordable and the food, including homemade desserts, were out of the world. Il Rigo receives our highest recommendation.
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