Autumn is a good time to be in Maremma. The summer crowds have gone, the countryside turns gold and brown, and the kitchens shift to the flavours of the season: new olive oil, mushrooms, chestnuts, game and the first dishes of the colder months.
It is also when the towns come alive with food festivals, village fairs and special dinners. Between Orbetello and Monte Argentario, there is plenty to taste, and plenty of reasons to stay a little longer.
Gustatus in Orbetello
The main event of the season is Gustatus – Il Senso del Gusto, held in Orbetello’s historic centre from 29 October to 1 November 2026.
For four days, local producers, wineries, restaurants and food lovers fill the town’s streets and squares.
You can try Maremma specialities, taste Tuscan wines, browse stalls of cured meats, cheeses, olive oil and seafood, and meet the people who make them.
It is an easy festival to enjoy without a plan: wander, taste, stop for a glass of wine, then keep walking.
If you are staying near Argentario, it also pairs well with a walk around Orbetello’s lagoon or an afternoon in Porto Ercole or Porto Santo Stefano.
Autumn Dinners at Argentario Golf & Wellness Resort
At Argentario Golf & Wellness Resort, near Porto Ercole, Executive Chef Emiliano Lombardelli has put together a programme of themed dinners around the flavours of Tuscany and Maremma.
Lombardelli grew up on Monte Argentario, and his cooking reflects that: local ingredients, traditional recipes and a few unexpected touches. His work has also helped earn the resort a place in the Gambero Rosso Guide 2026.
Among the seasonal dishes are cappelletti made with pasta infused with Morellino wine, and a lightly hay-smoked roe deer tartare with a creamy egg sauce. The dinners take place at the Club House Restaurant, surrounded by the golf course and the quiet of the Argentario countryside.
Olive Oil, Tradition and Wild Boar
The autumn programme opens with a dinner dedicated to olio nuovo, the freshly pressed extra virgin olive oil that marks the start of the Tuscan autumn.
The olives come from old trees on the resort’s grounds, including some along the golf course. The organic oil is used throughout the kitchen and served simply, with homemade bread and pinsa. The menu includes black kale with cannellini beans, pasta with cured pork cheek, pork tenderloin with olive oil mashed potatoes, and olive oil biscuits with pumpkin and chestnuts.
Later in October, Maremma’s Finest focuses on traditional local cooking: regional cheeses and cured meats, Maremma beef tartare, ricotta-filled tortelli from Manciano and padellaccia, a rustic pork dish typical of the area.
On 7 November, the Wild Boar Feast celebrates cinghiale, one of Maremma’s most familiar ingredients. Expect wild boar cured meats and terrine, pappardelle with juniper and white wild boar ragù, and braised wild boar with herb-infused polenta.
More Ways to Taste Maremma
You do not need a special dinner to eat well here. Autumn is a good moment to visit wineries, and to stop at an olive mill during harvest.
At Argentario Golf & Wellness Resort, there are also cooking classes, cocktail workshops and tastings throughout the year. Wine lovers can join tastings with sommelier Nicola Alocci, whose cellar includes well-known Tuscan labels as well as smaller natural and biodynamic producers.
If you are exploring on your own, look for Morellino di Scansano and Ansonica, and try to taste newly pressed olive oil straight from a local mill.
Christmas and New Year in Maremma
As autumn turns into winter, the focus shifts to the festive season.
At Argentario Golf & Wellness Resort, preparations are already underway for New Year’s Eve dinners at Dama Dama Restaurant and the Club House Restaurant. The menus include oysters, scallops, king prawns and beef fillet, followed after midnight by the usual Italian celebrations: lentils, cotechino, zampone and grapes.
There will also be a homemade panettone by Pastry Chef Filippo de Bernardi and Chef Lombardelli, made with natural yeast and carefully chosen ingredients. The evening continues with fireworks and a DJ set to welcome 2027.
Why Visit in Autumn
Food is reason enough, but it is not the only one.
The weather is milder, the villages are quieter, and the countryside is at its most atmospheric. You can spend a morning in Capalbio or Magliano in Toscana, have lunch in a trattoria, then end the day with a glass of local wine looking out over the Argentario coast. You can find 7 reasons to visit Maremma Tuscany in autumn here.
With Gustatus, seasonal dinners and the olive oil harvest all happening at once, autumn is one of the best times to plan a few days in southern Tuscany.
