Käserei Sexten
Village dairy working since 1926, taking milk from nearly 60 farms above 1,300 m. Its shop sits at the production site and opens Monday to Saturday all year; it makes Sextner Almkäse, Bergkäse, Stangenkäse and Graukäse.
About Sextner Almkäse
Sextner Almkäse is a full-fat cut cheese with about 50 percent fat in the dry matter, made in Sexten from pasteurised, GMO-free milk of the village's mountain farms. It appears on the Italian list of traditional agri-food products as the mountain cheese of Sesto. The Käserei Sexten, a cooperative working since 1926, says the cheese shows its full qualities after at least eight weeks of ripening. The cut is smooth and ivory to straw yellow, with small round holes. The dairy also makes a Sextner Graukäse of about 1 percent fat in the dry matter.
Made in: Sexten (Sesto) in the Hochpustertal, from the milk of Sexten mountain farms
On the plate
The dairy calls the paste very soft and supple, with a smell and taste from mild to aromatic and spicy, and stresses its soft, supple texture above all.
Wine and cheese
What to pour with Sextner Almkäse
Alto Adige Pinot Bianco Alto Adige
Our pickThe Käserei Sexten suggests light, fruity white wines for its Almkäse. A medium-bodied Alto Adige Pinot Bianco with high acidity, raised mostly in steel, is fresh enough for a very soft cheese that runs from mild to spicy.
Alto Adige Schiava (Vernatsch) Alto Adige
Our pickThe Käserei Sexten also suggests light, fruity red wines for its Almkäse. A light-bodied Schiava with low tannin and notes of violet and almond sits easily with the cheese's very soft, supple paste.
The grapes behind these winesPinot BiancoSchiava
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.
Sextner Almkäse: questions
How long is it ripened?
The Käserei Sexten says the cheese shows its full sensory qualities after at least eight weeks of ripening.
Which wine does the dairy suggest?
The dairy's own product page recommends light, fruity white wines or light, fruity red wines.
What is it good for in the kitchen?
The dairy says it goes with typical South Tyrolean breads and cold platters, and also works for gratinating vegetables.
Same cheeseboard
More cheeses from Alto Adige
Plan the trip
Visit Sextner Almkäse country
Tastings and tours where it is made, and somewhere to stay.
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Sources: protection register, kaeserei-sexten.com, it.wikipedia.org. The drawing is made from the cheese's recorded shape, rind and paste, not a photograph.