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.
About Monte Veronese
A semi-cooked cow's-milk cheese from the uplands north of Verona, roughly the Lessinia, Monte Baldo and the pre-alpine hills. It is made in two types: latte intero, from whole milk and sold from 25 days, and d'allevo, from partly skimmed milk, sold from 90 days and sorted by label into mezzano (up to six months) and vecchio (older). The name may come from monta, the Veronese word for milking. Cheesemaking here is recorded before the year 1000, and the cheese has been an Italian denominazione di origine since 1993 and an EU DOP since July 1996. The consortium gives wheels of 25 to 35 cm across, 6 to 11 cm high and 6 to 10 kg.
Made in: Communes of the northern part of the province of Verona, in the Lessinia and Monte Baldo uplands
On the plate
Latte intero is mild and pleasant, sweet with a faint sourness, with a thin elastic straw-coloured rind and small, evenly spread eyes. D'allevo has a harder rind, scattered eyes and a fragrant, savoury, balanced flavour that turns slightly peppery with age.
Rind: natural crust
Wine and cheese
What to pour with Monte Veronese
Amarone della Valpolicella Valpolicella
Our pickOld d'allevo is the sharpest, most peppery Monte Veronese, a cheese for the end of a meal. Amarone, dry and full-bodied from dried grapes and long ageing, has the weight and alcohol to stand up to it. Serve a small piece.
Valpolicella Ripasso Valpolicella
Our pickD'allevo has a harder rind and a savoury, slightly peppery paste. A Ripasso, refermented on the dried-grape pomace left from Amarone, is dry with more body than a young Valpolicella and less weight than Amarone, enough to meet that savoury bite.
Valpolicella Ripasso Veneto
Our pickD'Allevo turns slightly piquant with age, per Qualigeo. A Valpolicella Ripasso, refermented on dried Amarone skins, brings medium tannin and a little more weight than Bardolino, enough to meet that savoury edge.
Bardolino Classico Veneto
Our pickQualigeo suggests slightly fruity red wines with Monte Veronese. A Bardolino Classico, light in body and low in tannin with fresh acidity, suits the young Latte Intero, whose flavour is delicate, without covering it.
Valpolicella Classico and Valpolicella Valpolicella
Our pickYoung latte intero Monte Veronese is mild and faintly sweet, with a soft, elastic paste. A young Valpolicella, light in tannin and fresh, cleans the milky fat from the palate without any grip that would flatten such a gentle cheese.
Veronese IGT red from partly dried grapes Valpolicella
Our pickMonte Veronese d'allevo has a harder rind and a savoury, slightly peppery paste. Veronese IGT reds made with partly dried grapes or a pass over dried pomace are dry and fuller than a young Valpolicella, with the ripe weight to meet that bite.
Soave Superiore DOCG Veneto
Our pickMonte Veronese is a semi-cooked cow's-milk cheese from the Verona mountains, delicate when young and slightly piquant with age. A Soave Superiore, a medium-bodied Garganega-based white with high acidity, has the weight for the paste and cuts its fat.
The grapes behind these winesCorvinaGarganegaCorvina VeroneseCorvinoneRondinella
From the source
Where to buy and taste it
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.
Caseificio Gugole
Family dairy of the Lessinia, making raw-milk Monte Veronese DOP plus fresh, smoked and spiced cheeses, with a shop opened in the 1990s for the people of the Val d'Alpone.
La Casara Roncolato
Family dairy of the Lessini hills, active since 1920, making Monte Veronese DOP, mountain-hut, blue and wine-aged cheeses and cured meats, with shops at Roncà and Soave.
Locanda Viaverde, dairy and farm shop
The Albi family's dairy and farm shop beside their inn in the Lessinia park. A founding member of the Monte Veronese consortium, it also makes an organic line.
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.
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.
Spaccio Pennar, Asiago
Shop at the dairy on Via Pennar. Pennar lists two more, Mörar at Via Ceresara 18 in Asiago and Tresché at Cesuna in Roana, and announces one in Vicenza as opening soon.
La Casara Roncolato, Soave
Second shop of La Casara Roncolato, on Corso Vittorio Emanuele in Soave, closed on Sundays.
Cheese experiences nearby
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.
Caseificio Aperto, open day at the Barbarano dairy
Open day at the cooperative dairy with guided visits, tastings of its cheeses and local products, and the shop open. It is free, needs no booking, and the dairy reports about 2,000 visitors a year.
Guided visit to the Ponte di Barbarano dairy
A 35 to 40 minute walk through nearly all the dairy rooms to see milk turned into Grana Padano and Asiago Pressato, with a tasting at the end and the shop next door. Booking by phone or email is required.
Monte Veronese: questions
What are the types of Monte Veronese?
Latte intero, from whole milk and sold from 25 days, and d'allevo, from partly skimmed milk and sold from 90 days. Italian Wikipedia splits d'allevo into mezzano (90 days to 6 months, blue label) and vecchio (over 6 months, black label); latte intero carries a light green label.
What wine does Qualigeo suggest with Monte Veronese?
Qualigeo's gastronomy note says d'allevo, the older and stronger type eaten at the end of a meal, goes well with slightly fruity red wines ("vini rossi leggermente fruttati").
Where can I taste Monte Veronese with Valpolicella wine?
Musella's cellar tastings at San Martino Buon Albergo serve its wines with Monte Veronese of different ageing, and the Moonlight Lessinia dinner on 25 October 2026 pours Musella wines with three ageings of Monte Veronese DOP.
When was Monte Veronese first protected?
Italy recognised Monte Veronese as a denominazione di origine by a decree of the President of the Council of Ministers of 9 April 1993 (Gazzetta Ufficiale no. 196, 21 August 1993), and the EU registered it as a DOP in 1996.
Same cheeseboard
More cheeses from Valpolicella
Plan the trip
Visit Monte Veronese 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
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Sources: protection register, it.wikipedia.org, www.monteveronese.it. The drawing is made from the cheese's recorded shape, rind and paste, not a photograph.
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