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One of the features that contribute to an absolutely unforgettable stay at the Montalbino Holiday Farmhouse is the feeling of being surrounded by an authentic environment, where all the typical elements of the Tuscan countryside are still preserved intact.

The farm is one of the key elements the small Borgo has to offer. Our apartments are surrounded by 90 hectares of land, where we pick truffles, grow grapevines and olive trees and breed "Cinta Senese" pigs.

This is the most typically Tuscan of all breeds of pig, suited to country life and at ease only if left to roam free in its traditional surroundings, in a wild or semi-wild state.

Smaller than the light pink pigs we are all used to seeing in cartoons, Cinta Senese pigs remind us of ages long past, when pigs were black, even though they have always proudly boasted some pink patches under their white bristles stretching around the necks and down the front legs.


The Pig of Good Government
Cinta, the flavor of time

Description taken from of www.terresiena.it

The Cinta Senese, an ancient breed originating in the Siena countryside, is known to everyone as the pig with the collar. A streak of white hair covers it from shoulders to trotters, standing out on its black pelt almost as if it were a trademark. White and black are in fact the colors of the Sienese standard. It is one of the oldest autochthonous Italian breeds, and if you go to the Siena town hall you will see it in Lorenzetti's marvelous fresco, The Allegory of Good Government.

Since the early 20th century, it was the only breed of pig in Chianti, but due to high production costs it came to the brink of extinction.

The Cinta lives in a semi-wild state, which means that its growing time is double that of short-haired pigs. It was saved from oblivion because certain farmers in the Sienese mountains continued to keep a few of these pigs. Today there are more than eighty breeders and the Cinta is once more on the up and up.

It lives in spacious woodlands and feeds on acorns, roots, tubers, and truffles. The great "comeback" of the Sienese Cinta is due to a higher percentage (57%) of oleic or "good" fat as opposed to the normal pig's 50%, which makes the meat tastier, healthier and of a fine intense red color.

Whole cuts of Cinta meat are by now nationally famous: fillet, chine, sirloin, best end of neck and shoulder. But the cured meats are even tastier: very expensive hams, cheek, sausages and spiced pressed lard. To safeguard and promote, the breed the following associations have been created: the "Compagnia della Cinta" (non profit), the business consortium "Consorzio della Compagnia della Cinta" and (in Siena) the Consorzio di Tutela, which has applied for the Protected Origin Denomination certification (DOP) for all Cinta products.