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Location: Pignano
The billionaire owner (Cardiff via Silicon Valley) and charming GM Luciano Lusardi (ex Borgo Egnazia and Verdura) have created an almost-too-good-to-be-true country estate within 750 acres of organic farmland (olive groves, vineyards, fields, and woods) where butterflies swarm on sprawling lavender and the soundtrack is birdsong. This biodynamic hideaway has 14 rooms, plus smaller cottages and a farmhouse for 20, but they take bookings so strategically you’ll feel you practically own the place.
All produce is from the land itself, and there is an on-site bakery (using flour they mill) and garden kitchen overflowing with herbs and vegetables. Olive oil and organic lavender bathroom soaps and potions are all made in-house, too—and you can buy them to take away. The Al Fresco restaurant is great for a wood-fired pizza and zingy fresh salad, but on the other end of the scale, Villa Pignano whips up epic tasting menus fusing all sorts of unexpected combinations—there’s ravioli with blue cheese and white chocolate, and a surprisingly successful lamb with lavender and almonds. Impressively, the wine list is, without exception, Tuscan and biodynamic. However, before you eat, the biggest draw is Francisco, the handsome bearded mixologist with his terrace bar overlooking the hills. He’s more famous than the entire estate and makes a mean Negroni.
By day, the activities are endless: trekking, horse-riding, yoga, mountain biking, truffle hunting. There’s a billiard room, library, and even a ballroom. Painting classes are also on offer; pupils from The Royal Drawing School visit every summer as part of their curriculum. The spa is brand new and, like everything else, deeply tasteful—exposed stone, handmade oils, properly authentic, switch-off-style treatments. Then there’s the pool. Arguably the chicest pool in all of Tuscany. It’s infinity, but in a Slim Aarons way, carved out of a limestone quarry. The staff are fantastically caring, always on hand to help, but never hovering in that claustrophobic way. And the upkeep is meticulous. Sleep is taken seriously, too, and the rooms are staggering. Many have original frescos, four-poster beds, and even grand pianos.
