Caseificio Sociale Ponte di Barbarano
Cooperative founded in 1922 by dairy farmers of the Vicenza area, making Grana Padano DOP and Asiago Pressato DOP. It offers free guided visits by booking, a shop and a yearly open day.
About Grana Padano
A hard, slow-ripening cow's-milk cheese made across the Po Valley. Verona is one of the provinces in its production zone, and dairies in the Lessinia such as Menegazzi at Erbezzo and Dalla Valentina at Velo Veronese make it alongside Monte Veronese. It is a shared cheese, not a Verona speciality. Italian Wikipedia says a finished wheel weighs between 24 and 40 kg, and Qualigeo gives a minimum of nine months of ageing.
Made in: A large part of the Po Valley, including the province of Verona
On the plate
A finely granular paste, white to straw yellow, with a hard smooth rind. Qualigeo describes a fragrant aroma and a delicate flavour; it is eaten at the table and grated.
Rind: natural crust
Wine and cheese
What to pour with Grana Padano
Recioto della Valpolicella Valpolicella
Our pickRecioto is a sweet red from dried grapes. Against aged, granular Grana Padano the cheese's salt and savoury crunch play off the wine's sugar, a milder version of the sweet and salty contrast of Recioto with blue cheese.
Breganze Torcolato Veneto
Our pickFor a Grana Padano aged 20 months or more, the fine, granular, savoury paste meets Torcolato's apricot jam, honey and dried fig, and the passito's lively acidity stops the sweetness from cloying.
Barbera d'Alba Piedmont
Our pickA finely granular, delicate-flavoured wheel is salty and savoury. Barbera d'Alba's high acidity refreshes it, and with moderate tannin the wine does not fight the grainy texture.
Valpolicella Superiore Valpolicella
Our pickGrana Padano aged past a year is granular, savoury and salty. A dry Valpolicella Superiore has more body than a young Valpolicella and the acidity to cut the cheese's fat, while the salt in the paste brings the wine's fruit forward.
The grapes behind these winesCorvinaBarberaCorvina VeroneseRondinellaVespaiolaCorvinone
From the source
Where to buy and taste it
Caseificio Dalla Valentina
Dairy in Velo Veronese run by the Dalla Valentina family since 1957, with a shop. A Slow Food presidium maker of Monte Veronese di malga; also makes Grana Padano.
Lattebusche
Belluno cooperative founded in 1954 at Busche, Cesiomaggiore. It makes Piave DOP (Italian Wikipedia calls it the leading producer), Montasio, Asiago Fresco, Grana Padano and Schiz.
Caseificio Menegazzi
Family dairy at 1,150 m in Erbezzo, three generations of cheesemakers. It makes Monte Veronese and Grana Padano and sells at the dairy and online.
Latteria Soligo
Cooperative founded in 1883 in the Marca Trevigiana. It makes Casatella Trevigiana DOP, Asiago DOP (Fresco and Stagionato), Montasio DOP and Grana Padano DOP, and sells through its own shops.
Caseificio Menegazzi
Dairy at 1,150 m in Erbezzo making Monte Veronese DOP and Grana Padano DOP, plus the Erbezzina caciotta, butter and ricotta. It sells at the dairy and through an online shop.
Giolito Formaggi
Four-generation family cheese shop in the historic centre of Bra, working as an affineur with its own ageing cells and cellar. It favours raw-milk cheeses and small producers.
Latteria Bera
Turin dairy shop three minutes from Piazza Castello, taken over in 1958 by Romola and her sisters Marta and Bruna and run by her granddaughter Chiara since 2016. It sells Piedmontese specialities and DOP cheeses, and hosts booked tastings in the shop.
Spaccio Caseificio Ponte di Barbarano
Shop next to the cooperative dairy, rebuilt and enlarged in 2018. Besides cheese it sells a wide range of dairy products.
Caseificio Gugole shop
Opened in the 1990s so that people of the Val d'Alpone could buy the Gugole products directly. Open Monday to Saturday with a midday break.
Cheese experiences nearby
Cheese, Slow Food's cheese festival in Bra
Slow Food's biennial fair of raw-milk cheeses fills the centre of Bra with artisan producers, tastings, workshops and talks. The 2025 edition was the fifteenth.
Festa Storica del Formaggio Monte Veronese, Erbezzo
Cheese festival in the streets of Erbezzo with a competition between Monte Veronese DOP cheeses, a guided tasting, a children's cheese-making workshop and direct sales by producers. The 2026 edition was the 34th.
Festa Storica del Formaggio Monte Veronese, Erbezzo
Annual cheese festival at Erbezzo run by the Monte Veronese consortium with the commune and Pro Loco, where producers sell and present their cheese. The 34th edition was held on 31 May 2026.
Moonlight Lessinia, full-moon hikes with a mountain-hut dinner
Guided full-moon hikes in the Lessinia Natural Park followed by a tasting dinner with the Monte Veronese Consortium. In 2025-2026 the dinners were at a traditional malga, with Monte Veronese DOP and VinNatur natural wines, and the hikes were led by AIGAE guides.
Moonlight Lessinia, full-moon walks with a Monte Veronese dinner
Guided full-moon walks in the Lessinia park, each ending in a tasting dinner with Monte Veronese DOP and Verona wines. The 25 October 2026 opening night goes to Passo Malera and pours Musella wines.
Cheese Tasting at Giolito
Guided walk through the shop's cold counter, workshop, ageing rooms and the ageing cellar, which holds a small cheese museum, then a tasting in a dedicated room. For larger summer groups a tent can be set up in the courtyard. Contact the shop to reserve.
Grana Padano: questions
Is Grana Padano made in Verona province?
Yes. Qualigeo and Italian Wikipedia both list Verona among the provinces of the production zone.
How long is it aged?
From a minimum of nine months to over 20 months, per Qualigeo.
How heavy is a wheel?
Italian Wikipedia says a finished wheel must weigh between 24 and 40 kg.
When was Grana Padano first protected?
Italy first recognised Grana Padano as a denominazione di origine in the presidential decree of 30 October 1955, and the EU registered it as a DOP in 1996.
Same cheeseboard
More cheeses from Valpolicella
Plan the trip
Visit Grana Padano country
Tastings and tours where it is made, and somewhere to stay.
Valpolicella
Valpolicella Classica: Visit and tasting at Corte Borghetti
All 82 experiences in Valpolicella
Booking links go to our partners (GetYourGuide, Viator, Zen Hotels), who may pay us a commission. It never decides what we cover. Editorial standards.
Sources: protection register, www.qualigeo.eu, it.wikipedia.org. The drawing is made from the cheese's recorded shape, rind and paste, not a photograph.
Valpolicella wine guide → Piedmont wine guide → Veneto wine guide → Every cheese →