The story of Siena's native pig breed
Look at a photograph of a Cinta Senese pig. That pale band cutting across the black of its body, like a belt — that's where the name comes from.
The breed has lived in this province for centuries, and for a long stretch it came close to vanishing altogether, pushed out by breeds that were faster, more uniform, better suited to industry.
The people who refused to give up also chose to work differently: open-air rearing, feed grown on the farm, long timelines. More time means more flavour — Cinta meat has a structure and a marbling you cannot improvise.
Mario Vigni's Laboratorio Rurale, in the Crete Senesi, is one of those places. A family-run farm, pigs fed on barley, wheat, oats and field beans grown on the property, everything processed according to the family's farming traditions. A supply chain that never leaves the gate of Strada di Vescona, Asciano.
What reaches our plates passes through that gate. We searched for a long time before knocking on it — and once we found it, we never went anywhere else.
What reaches our plates passes through that gate. Come and try Cinta Senese DOP from our open kitchen.
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