Mila Bergmilch Südtirol
Dairy cooperative of about 2,100 mountain farms, founded in 1962, with its works in Bozen and its cheese dairy in Bruneck. The shop at the Bozen works sells the whole range, including the Stilfser PDO.
About Ortler
Ortler is named for the Ortler, the highest mountain of South Tyrol, and appears on the Italian list of traditional agri-food products. Mila describes a firm, dark brown, waxy rind around a light to straw yellow paste with cracks and slits instead of round holes. The paste is compact yet supple and slightly crumbly. Mila's table gives 34 g fat and 24 g protein per 100 g, and its page does not mark the rind as edible.
Made in: South Tyrol, named for the Ortler, the province's highest mountain
On the plate
Mila describes milky, nutty aromas with light pistachio notes and a pleasantly piquant spice. It says the cheese goes very well with sesame.
Wine and cheese
What to pour with Ortler
Alto Adige Chardonnay Alto Adige
Our pickMila finds milky, nutty aromas with light pistachio and a pleasant piquancy in Ortler. An oak-raised Alto Adige Chardonnay is full-bodied and broad enough for the nutty paste, and its high acidity handles the spice.
The grapes behind these winesChardonnay
From the source
Where to buy and taste it
Degust
Affineur's shop founded in 1994 by Hansi Baumgartner, a trained cook, which selects cheeses from small dairies and finishes them, ripening them in a former military bunker. The counter in Vahrn offers tastings of 12 cheeses (EUR 24) or 15 (EUR 30), with drinks charged extra.
Pur Südtirol Genussmarkt Meran
Pur Südtirol's first market, in the Meran Kurhaus since 2010. A cheese sommelier, a wine academy graduate and a meat sommelier advise; the speck ripening cellar is downstairs, and there is a wine bar and a sunny terrace on one of Meran's shopping streets.
Mila Shop Bruneck
Mila's shop in Bruneck, where its cheese dairy is, with the whole range and other South Tyrolean specialities. The Senni Bar at the same address opens at 6:00 on weekdays and from 7:00 to 13:00 on Sunday, when the shop lists no hours.
Sennerei Drei Zinnen shop, Innichen
Branch of the Sennerei Drei Zinnen at Burgweg 1, a few steps from Innichen's pedestrian zone and station. It is closed on Sunday and on Thursday afternoon, and can be reached on +39 0474 913317.
Cheese experiences nearby
Käsefestival Sand in Taufers
Cheese market and festival in the Ahrntal's main village, with producers from South Tyrol and beyond, a cooking arena and tastings run with Slow Food. ONAF calls it biennial. The 16th edition was held 13 to 15 March 2026.
Schaukäserei Drei Zinnen, Toblach
Museum, production area and ripening cellar behind glass. Self-guided in opening hours, with cheese being made Tuesday to Friday until about 13:00; public guided tours are paused until Tuesday 29 December 2026, groups of 15 or more on request.
Ahrntaler GrauKäseTage
Two weeks of Graukäse: an opening festival with market and tastings, 12 participating businesses, producer visits and a closing five-course dinner by registration. The 9th edition was held in September 2026.
Cheese tasting at Eggemoa
Tasting of the Eggemoa raw-milk cheeses, starting with the mild Candidum and moving to the larch-needle and alpine-herb cheeses, rind included, with advice on which drink fits. Reserve through the form on its website; no dates or price are published.
"Mein Käse" cheese-making tasting, Algund
A guided tasting at the Algund dairy where up to 16 visitors make their own cheese under staff guidance and take it home, and taste the dairy's cheeses. The page gives no dates, price or booking link and names no season, so telephone +39 0473 448710 to arrange it.
Milchmeile Sexten
Family theme trail on a forest path beside a stream, with stations on how milk becomes cheese and on local specialities. It ends at the Käserei Sexten at 1,310 m, where the dairy sells its cheese. The tourist board gives no season.
Ortler: questions
What does the rind look like?
Mila describes a firm, dark brown, waxy rind.
What is it best for?
Mila says it is ideal for gratinating, because a golden-brown crisp crust forms.
Does it have round holes?
No. Mila describes cracks and slits (Bruch- and Schlitzlochung) in the paste instead of round holes.
Same cheeseboard
More cheeses from Alto Adige
Plan the trip
Visit Ortler country
Tastings and tours where it is made, and somewhere to stay.
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Sources: protection register, www.mila.it, it.wikipedia.org. The drawing is made from the cheese's recorded shape, rind and paste, not a photograph.