Review: Borgo Pignano

Guests can dine at two restaurants: open-air eatery Trattoria Al Fresco, where the menu centres on a wood-fired pizza oven, and green‑Michelin‑starred restaurant Villa Pignano, which celebrates ‘zero kilometre’ cuisine. The latter is a particular highlight, with an impressive tasting menu and a beautiful terrace overlooking the hills of Volterra. The property is perhaps most famous for its infinity-edged pool carved from an ancient limestone quarry – thought to have supplied most of the stone used to build the Etruscan gate Porta all’Arco in Volterra. This year, Borgo Pignano unveiled a second pool to provide a more relaxed area for families. Here, guests will also find a refurbished fitness space and sports area complete with a basketball court and five-a-side football pitch, which doubles as a tennis court.

Other facilities include a spa, yoga studio, bocce (a form of boules) court and riding stables. An eco‑friendly ethos runs through Borgo Pignano and the estate is deeply connected to its surrounds. The property is 70% self-sufficient when it comes to produce, growing its own organic fruits, vegetables and cereals across its vegetable gardens, orchards, olive groves and farm, and harnessing traditional Tuscan techniques to make artisanal breads, pasta, olive oil, honey, jams and toiletries. All of the estate’s heating and hot water is produced in-house using renewable energy.

Ideal for: The wide range of accommodation options and activities at Borgo Pignano makes it ideal for families and larger groups. Guests can enjoy farm tours, painting classes, horse riding lessons, wine tasting and cookery lessons, while little guests will find a woodland playground and nature lab, plus arts and crafts, pizza-making and nature trails. Borgo Pignano feels slightly less polished than other high-end hotels in the region – its interiors are a little retro in parts and the facilities have a more relaxed feel – but for the many guests who return year after year, clearly, that is precisely its appeal.

Explore: If the estate’s orchards, meadows, lakes and woodlands aren’t enough to satisfy guests, a range of excursions beyond the property might. Clients can go truffle hunting between the months of June and November; spot wildlife in the surrounding nature reserves; visit the Chianti and Brunello wine-making regions; or take a city tour of San Gimignano, Siena, Florence or Volterra.

Wow: Traditional Tuscan vistas don’t get better than those at Borgo Pignano. Many argue that the property has the best view in the region and, as I stand on the terrace watching the swifts and swallows soaring and diving against an apricot-hued sky, a pristine patchwork of fields and vineyards unfurled below like a Renaissance painting, it’s impossible to disagree.

Book it: Borgo Pignano offers rooms from €350 per night based on two adults staying in the main villa on a B&B basis.
borgopignano.com