In a natural embrace of a splendid beauty formed by soft hills, a hamlet, a tower, a cypress, where Sant’Elena lays down, an ancient Tuscan dwelling made of history and stone, it’s a sweet welcome in its elegant interiors with its earthy colors, old furniture and precious fabrics, a moment of refreshment in a timeless place, that alone is enough to hearten, an awakening with the morning fragrance, of the harmony between spirit and feeling.

LUXURY BEDROOM
Embellished with French fabrics and antique embroidered linen duvets which are enhanced by the panorama of the soft lines of our Tuscan hills that change colour according to the seasons and time. Living room and double bedroom of 35 sqm on the ground floor or on the first floor of the Foresteria. Outside area with double porch or terrace.

DELUXE BEDROOM
These are like swallows’ nests, warm, enveloping, romantic in earthy colours. Outside area which invites a part of Tuscany enter the intimacy of your room. Double or twin room of 18 sqm on the ground floor or on the first floor of the Foresteria. Private outdoor area with terrace, small garden or porch.

SUPERIOR ROOM
Stones walls, antique iron canopy beds, precious curtains, family furniture, have the charm of homes of the past, loved, cared for, intensely lived. Double bedroom of 18 sqm on the first floor of the manor house. Small shared loggia.

BREAKFAST
Breakfast is the party of awakening, it is a game of flavours and colours, it is Stefy’s smile that welcomes you, it is the first ray of sunshine that illuminates the wisteria covered pergola, and so begins a beautiful day at Sant ‘Elena.

LIGHT LUNCH
Throughout the day, unique and fun dishes are proposed for light lunches, aperitifs and snacks to be enjoyed in the dedicated food area: under the wisteria, in the vegetable garden, in the swimming pool, in the rose garden, in a reserved corner or in more open areas, to lose oneself in the “good” and the “beautiful”.

DINNER
In the light of the sunset when the sun falls behind the mill amongst the reds and oranges, the magical moment of dinner begins, where guests become found friends after a long journey, where celebrations and dinners are small events, for evenings that remain in hearts. Always in the simplicity of excellence.

BEAUTY
In front of the pool, in a historical corner , we dedicated a special place for body-mind wellness. Original features, stone walls, small ancient windows, the earthy grey turtle colours and the magical view of the cypress tree, create an intimate relaxing atmosphere where you can surrender your body and mind to the therapeutic healing energy of the holistic therapist.

GARDENS
There is an explosion of colours of vegetables from the garden, scents from roses, rosemary and aromatic herbs that invade lawn, where you can stop and listen to the songs of thousands of birds. At dusk, the area around the swimming pool is magical, filled with the flight of dozens of festive swallows AND the lake with its water lilies guarded by the grey heron.

There are several areas where you can stay in silence, such as the veranda where you can lose yourself in the rural landscape with its far away boundaries, the “carraia”, a more secluded area where you can read and listen to music, the pergola covered in wisteria where you can taste our dishes from sunrise to sunset. Anyway, there is the joy of those who wanted all of this to happen.

INTERIOR
A succession of corridors and arcades, as in the past, terracotta flooring and elegant nuances of the earth’s colour are surrounded by antique family furnishings. All of this gives a refined and discreet meaning to one’s own life.

STEFY’S COOKING CLASSES 
Laugh, learn, and enjoy a glass of wine whilst you learn the tastiest of all arts…cooking! Homemade pasta and bread making using our ancient grains: Senatore Cappelli, Andriolo and Verna made to rise using water fermented with seasonal vegetables

TRAILS
Trails are numerous and interesting in this secret corner of Tuscany, land of Etruscans and Macchiaioli, Sassicaia, Carducci: from the coast in just ten minutes, to the vineyards of the prestigious Wineries of Bolgheri, to the charm of villages, parish churches and castles or to the many Etruscan testimonies.

The farm retraces ancient paths traced by farmers and woodcutters, charcoal burners and shepherds, along land that changes color according to the seasons, immersing yourself in the thousand shades of green that sway in the wind, in the fragrant hays marked by avenues of cypresses and realizing soft or bright colors of beautiful wild plants hidden in the banks.

At dusk stop on a top of a hill where you can see the roe deer and wild boar together with the cows and flocks and observe the sun setting over the sea. A short journey through the colors, shapes and scents that the countryside offers to those who know how to observe carefully.

WINE CELLAR
Food & wine tours in the famous wineries of Bolgheri and the surrounding area: Ornellaia, Castello di Bolgheri, Le Macchiole, Caccia al Piano, Michele Satta, Grattamacco, Tenuta Argentiera, Chiappini, Castello di Querceto, Petra and many more. Hope on an e-bike or scooter, grab a picnic basket, and enjoy a day basking on the slopes of Tuscany’s sunny hills, touring the region’s most prestigious vineyards, famous the world over.

OLIVE OIL TASTINGS
1, 2, 3 …. Eleven different types of olive oil from our own olive presses, pressed the same day they are gathered in early October. Single-variety olives make for an excellent natural flavour, which is then infused, once the olives are crushed, with lemon, with the shavings of truffles found in the surrounding forests, rosemary, basil, and red pepper from the garden. Ibra will guide you through this can’t-miss experience for your taste buds.

Rooms: 16

Price: from 269 EUR per night

Source: www.relaissantelena.it

La Cerreta farm and the Terme di Sassetta are a unique organism, immersed in the peace and greenery of the Poggio Neri forest park. A magical place, of widespread well-being, where you live in full synergy with the rhythms and spaces of nature following the principles of biodynamics.

Starting from the state road, a dirt road leads slowly to our farmhouse and the spa center connected to it. Step by step, passing through oak woods, cork trees, farms, vineyards and ancient olive groves, the daily frenzy slowly gives way to the tranquility of a life in close contact with nature.

Far from noise and stress, without TV and Wi-Fi in the room, surrounded by an authentic and unspoiled scenery, a stay in our farmhouse with spa is the ideal opportunity to regenerate and reconnect with the deepest essence of small things.

The comfortable rooms inspired by the territory welcome for sweet relaxation. The green of the Tuscan countryside is the setting for long and peaceful walks.

The baths in the precious thermal water and our treatments with natural products give physical and mental well-being and at the table there is no lack of typical taste of our traditional Tuscan dishes, tasty and healthy, prepared with ingredients 90% produced by us.

THE THERMAL SPRING
La Cerreta is an environment rich with energy. A positive energy that can be inhaled almost everywhere: among the plants, among the trees, walking in the greenery of the woods, along the gentle hills.

One of the places that more than any other releases the power of Nature, where forgotten harmonies meet and combine different elements, however, is the thermal spring, the real vital fulcrum of our farm. Discovered by chance, as an unexpected gift from Nature, this spring naturally flows from an underground basin at a constant temperature of 51 ° C.

Its precious water is defined as salt-sulfate-calcium-hyper-thermal and – thanks to the particular concentration of sulfates, calcium, precious minerals and trace elements – it gives therapeutic effects on the respiratory system, skin and musculoskeletal system. A real cure-all for psychophysical well-being!

NATURAL HARMONY
La Cerreta is not a simple holiday at the spa or on a farm. La Cerreta is a lifestyle. It means getting rid of the hustle and bustle of the city, the slavery of television and the Internet, business appointments and the telephone that rings every hour, to treat yourself to the most precious asset available to us: time .

Time for yourself, for your affections, but also to listen to the stimuli that nature offers daily and that we usually neglect, struggling with stress and the speed of everyday life.

At Cerreta we want to offer a regenerating stay ,made of simplicity and hospitality, smiles and moments of serenity, respect for nature and its cycles, making available our stone farmhouses immersed in the green of the forest and the genuine products of our land served at the table.

And then the relaxation in the thermal pools and the breaks of calm and rest, perhaps pampered by a relaxing massage inside our spa. Because for us this is true luxury: creating wellness opportunities in contact with nature.

THE FARMHOUSE
At the beginning, La Cerreta was an uncultivated land, full of brushwood but full of potential and with an underground energy that immediately captured us.

Our family were fascinated by the imposing oaks, the generosity of the chestnut trees, the green of the olive groves and an uncontaminated and authentic nature, in which it is easy to find oneself. So, day after day, we started to abandon our old home and even work to move here, where we started LIVING.

Our “work” has become fields, gardens, livestock … All in the deepest respect for nature, always following its rhythms, its cycles, its needs and following a biodynamic concept. At some point, for example, drinking water became necessary to give our animals drinks, so we started digging.

And there, without warning, the magic arrived: we were looking for a well and found a source of thermal water, naturally warm and rich in precious elements, beneficial for the body and mind. A true gift!

The desire to share this incredible place, kissed by nature, was such as to push us to give life to all that is today “La Cerreta”: welcoming rooms inside stone farmhouses, a quality restaurant, vineyards, olive groves, animals, spas… In a word, pure natural well-being.

“La Cerreta” is a large family ready to welcome its guests in the most authentic and spontaneous way possible. This is why we don’t want to offer standardized experiences… It simply wouldn’t be in our way of being.

We have five farmhouses, which collectively collect seventeen rooms. Each farmhouse has its own personality, its name, its history, a well-defined position and a number of rooms. In turn, each room preserves its theme, its story, its furniture built with quality materials, honest and unconventional; often unique pieces full of poetry.

A common red thread unites everything: the need to talk about traditions, well-being, those ineffable atmospheres and suggestions fed by our landscape, our fields, our spas. In short, an approach that goes beyond simple aesthetic and functional issues to transform itself into a real lifestyle.

I CERRI – GARDEN VIEW
Recently recovered and restored with care, “I Cerri” is a farmhouse dating back to the end of the 19th century, whose name refers to the two majestic old trees that welcome guests at the entrance.

Made of river stone and internally finished with antique plaster, the farmhouse houses four bedrooms with private bathroom: on the ground floor there are the rooms with patios called Ricordi (Memories) and del Marmo Rosa (of Pink Marble).

While climbing the stairs to the first floor you reach the rooms del Castagno (Chestnut) and del Carbonaio (Worker) equipped with a small terrace. A home in which you can breathe country air combined with some stylistic features of the Tuscan “Genius loci”.

PINK MARBLE ROOM
Intimate, romantic, designed for a couple. Beyond the small porch, the delightful room of the Pink Marble envelops guests with its delicate and refined colors: floors, furnishings and services are made of pink Sassetta marble, quarried on site and worked for us by skilled craftsmen of the area.

The room consists of a double bedroom and bathroom and, among the veins of the stone, tells the attentive guest the story of the nearby Monte Bufalaio, where the remains of a disused quarry still exist from which, once, the famous marble, Rose of Sassetta, was extracted.

LA CASA DEGLI ARTISTI
La Casa degli Artisti is the farmhouse that contains the largest number of rooms, eight in all. Each room has been furnished with precious unique pieces made by giving life to recycled materials from our estate, thus respecting the Genius loci.

The hangers, for example, are made with wood collected in the forest park and fixed with hand-forged nails while, the headboards of the beds were created by reusing disused poles from our vineyards or wooden planks of the construction site.

The wrought iron and the frame wood of the mirrors tell the story of our land and even the plaster on the walls was obtained by mixing the clay of the surrounding fields. In addition, each room can be defined as “Author’s” because it houses the work of an artist called to carry out a pictorial or sculptural intervention tailored to each environment.

In particular, we must thank the Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara for the advice and the artists Fabio Graziani and Diego Bocelli for their works.

Each room, in fact, is inspired by various historical and artistic periods: ranging from prehistory to the Etruscan period, from the classical period to the Middle Ages, from the Renaissance to the Neoclassicism, up to the twentieth century and the modern age.

Precisely on these issues, the artists confronted each other, creating unique works, whose genesis is intimately linked to the environment in which they intervened.

ETRUSCAN DELUXE ROOM
Contemporary artist Diego Bocelli was inspired by Etruscan art to create the works that decorate this room. The protagonists are above all scenes of daily life of the Etruscan people, an ancient inhabitant of our territory: among the images represented you can see players and dancers but also depictions of the Etruscan chimera of Arezzo.

Peculiarity of this arrangement is the furniture: All the furniture in this room, in fact, are unique pieces made by hand with recycled materials taken directly from our estate, while the plaster was created with the soil of our surrounding fields.

Located on the ground floor, the room overlooks the woods of the Poggio Neri Park. It has a double bed and a single bed and is characterized by a handmade terracotta floor that recalls the typically Etruscan colors, with shades ranging from terracotta to dark gray.

The bathroom fixtures, on the other hand, are chromatically inspired by the “bucchero“, a type of black and glossy ceramic produced by the Etruscans to make vases.

LA CASETTA NEL BOSCO
An ideal accommodation for those who want to return to being a child for a little while. Letting themselves be carried away by the fairy-tale charm of this small stone house immersed in the lush woods. The atmosphere is engaging and relaxing, rest and tranquility guaranteed.

The interiors, plastered with river clay, distil suggestion and welcome two rooms, divided into a double bed and a single bed. The bathroom, with a crystal shower cabin, is characterized by a stone sink with a sculptural flavor, poised between nostalgia and contemporary taste.

LA CERRETA
Built at the end of the 18th century, La Cerreta cottage gives its name to the entire estate and is the main building, around which the life of the whole farmhouse revolves.

The central part of the ground floor houses the kitchen and the restaurant while, on the sides, there are the comfortable accommodations for guests called Junior Suite La Cantina (The Cellar) and the la Carraia (The Carriageway): two suggestive spaces characterized by the spontaneity of the furnishings and the solid consistency of the architecture, permeated from a subtle narrative streak.

LE ORME
On a tile we found the imprints of two small forest animals. So It will not be difficult to understand the choice of the name Le Orme (The Footsteps) for this farmhouse so full of charm, characterized by a warm, welcoming and informal atmosphere.

Together with “I Cerri” farmhouse, this structure is part of a small but suggestive core of buildings dating back to the end of the 19th century, once dedicated to the collection and conservation of chestnuts, an important source of sustenance and income for the inhabitants of Sassetta.

The farmhouse, now recovered and expertly restored, houses two bedrooms built in river stone on the ground floor separated by a small porch, each with a private bathroom: the Earth Room (Garden View type) to the west, the Water Room (Water type) to the east.

Poetic rooms, where the harmony and positivity of an uncontaminated countryside and water rich in beneficial properties vibrate.

DINING
A welcoming location that stimulates conviviality. A room surrounded by greenery, warmed by the heat of a hearth, where every corner suggests links with the territory and the luxuriant nature that surrounds it. At Cerreta a relaxing day at the spa finds its perfect completion sitting at the table.

Convinced that well-being and a balanced lifestyle start from a tasty but also healthy diet, we offer our guests only first-rate genuine flavors and ingredients. For this we prepare breakfasts, aperitifs, lunches and dinners using mostly ingredients produced by our biodynamic farm.

In our menu, always studied with respect for seasonality, we do not offer simple dishes but real “stories” that speak of our territory, our traditions, our way of understanding breeding and agriculture. The care and culture of food are two strengths of our catering and the basis of our philosophy: eating, for us, is giving nourishment to the body but also to the soul.

As a biodynamic farm we produce more than 90% of the resources processed and served in our restaurant. What does it mean? It means that, of almost all the dishes that we will propose, you could ask us the story and we would be able to tell you.

Where were those vegetables grown? And with what method? And the wine, is it produced from those vineyards? And the yogurt, is it made with the milk of the cows that graze nearby?

Almost everything is produced and raised by us, with much love and enormous respect for nature and its life cycles. Each of our products escapes the logic of large-scale production and industrial homologation to become a spokesperson for our territory, our traditions, and our world.

We pamper our guests starting in the morning, with a genuine and very nutritious breakfast: freshly milked cow’s milk yogurt, cheeses and fresh eggs of the day, extra fruit jams produced by us, naturally leavened bread baked in a wood oven …And for lunch and dinner we offer old peasant recipes revisited, following the creative flair of our cuisine which always uses genuine products at km0.

Greens and vegetables are fresh from the garden. The extra virgin olive oil is obtained from our cold-pressed olives. The Maremma beef, Cinta Senese pork and Livornese chickens come from our farms.

And then there are the wines – of which we are very proud – they are the result of our vineyards. In short, a balanced restaurant designed as an expression of a territory and a culture with solid roots.

La Cerreta follows the principles of biodynamic agriculture not only as a method of cultivation, breeding and production but also and above all as a lifestyle, with the primary objective of supporting the land and entering into profound harmony with it.

The first rule of biodynamic agriculture is not to damage the land, operating according to ideas, feelings and intuitions that are linked to the characteristics of the territory.

It is a method of cultivation free from preconceptions, which evolves season after season, year after year, is perfected with experience and observation and returns to those universal principles that, in the logic of large-scale production, man now systematically neglects, at the expense of the ecosystem but also of the goodness and wholesomeness of food.

La Cerreta is a Demeter Certified biodynamic farm which, following a differentiated and closed cycle, produces wine, oil, meat, cured meats, cheeses, fruit, chestnuts, cereals, fodder and has indigenous herds of cattle, pigs, horses, bees and poultry.

A variety that ensures biodiversity to the ecosystem, essential to maintain the right balance in production cycles and to gather resources of excellent quality, from the point of view of flavors, authenticity, nutritional and energy values.

As a farm, La Cerreta implements a measured and high quality production, the result of twenty years of experience, in which we have preserved and stimulated the harmony of the phenomena of self-regulation of the earth.

With simplicity and passion, we offer a cross-section of the peasant culture of the Upper Maremma that has in the gastronomy, equestrian culture, agriculture and hospitality the strengths with which to revitalize the entire territory, without giving up its identity.

CURED MEATS
Our “salumeria” (charcuterie) is made with “Cinta Senese” (domestic pig from the province of Siena) and “Nero della Cerreta” pigs. Raised on our farm: they live in groups, feed on the fruits of the forest such as acorns and chestnuts, grass and cereals, a diet that gives the meat unmistakable characteristics in terms of consistency and flavor.

The slaughter takes place only after reaching two years of age and the transformation methods are those typical of our area, supported by the collaboration with a master pork butcher. For conservation we use sea salt, spices, pepper, natural casings and we activate processes such as molding, stewing and slow seasoning, which guarantee healthiness and quality.

The delicatessen products we offer, in addition to fresh meats, are ham, salami of various sizes, capocollo, rigatino, arista, guanciola and lard, with seasoning times that vary, for hams, from 18 to 24 months and from 3 to 10 months for salami.

CHEESES
La Cerreta cheeses, both fresh and aged, are obtained from the milk of free-range cows raised on pasture. Following the biodynamic breeding method, we have always renounced dehorning, to respect the animal and not to lose the nutritional values ​​of its milk.

A wide choice of cheeses will meet all tastes: fresh and baked ricotta, mozzarella, ravaggioli and bouchon, cheeses of different ages and flavored with walnuts, chives, mushrooms, marc, chili. Not to mention the delicious yogurt made every day and served at breakfast or at the spa!

HONEY & JAMS
In addition to the small quantities collected for fresh consumption, with the fruit of ancient local varieties we produce extra jams with a maximum of 20% of brown cane sugar.

From figs in oil to glazed or cream-flavored browns, up to 100% wild blackberry jams, strawberry trees, quinces, peaches, coscia pears, apricots, apples with mint, green and red Claudia plums, melon, watermelon, peels of watermelon, green tomatoes, cucumbers and mint, zucchini, chili peppers, pink apples, elderberries, blackthorns, strawberries and cherries, as well as the delicious preserves of coscia pears and ham plums and milk jam.

For wine lovers: jams of Merlot, Vermentino, Cabernet, Sangiovese and strawberry grapes. Among the most important agricultural activities there is bee breeding, an ancient tradition of La Cerreta.

The mild climate, the different types of blossoms during the year and the excellent biological balance allow bees to produce – and us to harvest – excellent varieties of whole virgin honey. The extraction takes place cold and the honey is immediately packaged in jars.

THE VINEYARDS
La Cerreta vineyards have existed since ancient times. The most qualified wine experience, however, starting in 1999, with the replanting of 6 hectares of an old vineyard in an area most exposed to the “Sun”, which, according to the elderly, gave the best wine to “Pian delle Vigne”.

In this siliceous-clay soil we have planted Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Sangiovese and Vermentino, fertilizing them with legume, cruciferous, grasses and with the use of our composted manure. The treatments are exclusively based on sulfur, Bordeaux mixture, bentonite and of course biodynamic preparations.

The farm “La Cerreta” extends, in fact, on 50 hectares in Demeter Certified biodynamic production. It is not a mono-cultural company, but with a differentiated and closed cycle with production of wine, oil, fruit, chestnuts, cereals, fodder and with breeding of indigenous populations of cattle, pigs, horses, bees and poultry.

All this to ensure the ecosystem the biodiversity necessary to achieve balance and have great quality in production and products.

The agronomic management of the vineyards and the breeding techniques are such as to give great balance to the plant and the particular relationship between this management of the soil and our microclimate, where chestnut and domestic pine coexist, gives our wines unique and unmistakable characteristics.

Currently, the surface of the vineyards is extended to 8 hectares, with the planting in 2003 of 2 hectares of red grape varieties, focusing on typical Tuscan qualities but now almost disappeared, such as the Colorino, the Barsaglina, and the round leaf. Sensitivity, passion and love for the land are the elements that inspire our wine production.

GRAPE HARVEST & VINIFICATION
The manual collection of small parcels and the vinification with indigenous yeasts make “La Cerreta” wines original, with a good personality and wholesomeness.

In the cellar, no type of oenological adjuvant is used and the fermentations of the wines follow their course naturally, then continuing the aging in oak barrels. Sensitivity, passion and love for the land are the inspiring elements of all this.

THE THERMAL BATHS
We are immersed in a large park, surrounded by greenery, among woods of ancient chestnut trees and majestic oaks. At Cerreta, each element suggests synergistic and pure contact with Nature.

Our bathing tubs and pools, inspired by the Etruscan and Roman architecture of the ancient baths, are fed by a precious naturally hot water, which flows from an underground basin at a constant temperature of 51° C.

Thanks to the particular concentration of sulphates, calcium, minerals and trace elements, our thermal water has therapeutic effects on the respiratory system, the skin and the musculoskeletal system. A source of precious well-being, a gift from Nature.

THE WATER
«Follow me between the river stones and the chestnut wood, through the small waterfalls immersed in the greenery of this valley. Do you feel it, the energy that flows? It is my gift for you ». The water that feeds our thermal structure naturally flows at a temperature of 51 ° C and is technically defined as “Salt-Sulphate-Calcium-Hyperthermal Water“.

This means that it has a valuable concentration of sulphates, calcium, minerals and trace elements capable of giving therapeutic effects on the respiratory system, skin and musculoskeletal system to those who dive into it.

In addition, in our pools we have eliminated the use of chlorine by replacing it with an oxygen-based treatment, which does not alter the quality of the thermal water.

THE THERMAL PATH
Let yourself be pampered by the warmth of our beneficial water. Pull the plug and let yourself be seduced by the emotional showers and the warmth of our river stone Turkish baths.

Abandon yourself to the pleasures of the aromatherapy sauna and regenerate yourself with our Kneipp path. Reconnect the link with nature, discovering a unique territory, rich in history and genuine products.

Our thermal path is a 360 ° dive into nature to regenerate body, mind and spirit. Among luxuriant chestnut and oak woods, our spas are inspired by the ancient Etruscan and Roman architecture, intimately linked to our territory.

The water flows sinuously from the waterfalls of the central column and from the external walls, from the cervical, back and foot hydro-massages, leading along a suggestive path that winds between indoor and outdoor pools.

Between jets, sketches and streams, you will meet the fascinating cascade gore from the hottest pool to finally reach the last outdoor pool of the structure. Ready to relax?

THE TREATMENTS
Natural and fresh products, enveloping gestures, relaxing atmospheres… At Cerreta the time has finally come to devote some time to yourself. Relax with our exclusive treatments, designed to regenerate the body and mind through quality raw materials, which we largely self-produce.

We have selected for you a series of services which – combined with the benefits of our thermal water, the expert manual skills of professionals in the sector and scientific research in harmony with our biodynamic approach – are aimed at giving moments of incredible well-being.

In fact, each program is designed to create an integral and holistic approach to the individual’s mental and physical health.

Rooms: 17

Price: from 259 EUR per night

Source: www.lacerretaterme.it