DOP, first protected 1982Cow milk, rawSemi, hardNatural rind
A raw-milk cheese of the high Grana valley, made from whole cow's milk with a small share (5 to 20 per cent) of part-skimmed sheep or goat milk. The curd rests at least 18 hours, is soaked in whey for two to four days, then broken, salted and pressed. Qualigeo says the first wheels date to the twelfth century. Two versions exist: Prodotto di Montagna, from pastures at 600 to 1,000 m, and di Alpeggio, above 1,000 m from May to the end of October. Wheels are 15 to 25 cm across, 12 to 20 cm high and 2 to 7 kg.
Taste: Very crumbly and without eyes. Mild when young, savoury and piquant when aged, when blue-green veins appear. The veining develops on its own with ageing, with no mould inoculated.
Ageing: 60 days minimum, in cool humid rooms
Made in: Three communes of Cuneo province: Castelmagno, Pradleves and Monterosso Grana
DOP, first protected 1982Cow milkSemi, hardNatural rind
Named for the town of Bra, once the main place where it was ripened and sold, this is a cow's milk cheese, sometimes part-skimmed, that may take small additions of goat or sheep milk. It comes in two types: Tenero, with an elastic rind and white or ivory paste, and Duro, with a hard rind and paste from pale straw to ochre. Either can be labelled d'Alpeggio when made and aged in the mountain zone of Cuneo. Wheels are flat cylinders 30 to 40 cm across, 5 to 10 cm high and 5 to 9 kg (Wikipedia).
Taste: Qualigeo calls Tenero pleasantly fragrant, a table cheese; Duro is savoury and full of aroma, for the table and for grating. Bra d'Alpeggio is considered the most esteemed Bra, with ochre paste, compact texture, fine eyes and an intense, piquant, strongly savoury taste.
Ageing: Tenero 45 days minimum, Duro 180 days minimum; Duro past one year may be labelled Stravecchio
Made in: The whole province of Cuneo and the commune of Villafranca Piemonte in Turin province
DOP, first protected 1982Cow milk, bothSemi, hardNatural rind
A pressed, semi-fat cheese of cow's milk with small optional additions of sheep or goat milk, used raw or after a sanitising treatment. It is made in two shapes: round, 30 to 40 cm across and 5 to 9 kg, and square, 28 to 40 cm a side and 6 to 10 kg. Qualigeo traces it to a fifteenth-century lease from Pamparato naming the Raschera pasture. Made and aged above 900 m it is labelled d'Alpeggio, with deeper yellow paste.
Taste: Delicate, fragrant and moderately piquant, savoury when aged. The d'Alpeggio has a full, complex and lasting taste with aromas of mountain herbs and summer flowers, from the fresh forage.
Ageing: 30 days minimum; at least 120 days may be labelled Oltre quattro mesi
Made in: The whole province of Cuneo and the commune of Villafranca Piemonte in Turin province; d'Alpeggio above 900 m in nine named communes
DOP, first protected 1993Cow milk, bothSemi, hardNatural rind
Made across six Piedmont provinces and parts of two more, a semi-cooked cow's milk cheese in two types: Latte Intero (whole milk) and Semigrasso (part-skimmed). Qualigeo traces it to Roman times, with firm citations from about the year 1000, and says the semi-fat version arose to recover cream for butter. Wheels are cylinders with flat faces and a slightly convex side, 1.8 to 9 kg by Qualigeo, and 15 to 35 cm across and 6 to 12 cm high by Wikipedia, ripened in cellars that imitate the traditional rock caves. A label may add Latte crudo.
Taste: Whole-milk Toma is soft with a sweet, pleasant, slightly acidic and salty flavour and a delicate aroma. Semigrasso is more intense and harmonious, with a fragrant aroma. Small, scattered eyes are typical, sometimes with a faint natural blue veining.
Ageing: At least 15 days if under 5.2 kg, at least 60 days if heavier
Made in: Novara, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Vercelli, Biella, Turin and Cuneo provinces, and some communes of Asti and Alessandria
DOP, first protected 1982Sheep and cow milkFresh
A small fresh cheese of Langhe sheep's milk, pure or mixed with at most 40 per cent cow's milk, so that sheep's milk is never less than 60 per cent. It is made in cylindrical moulds with a perforated base, dry-salted, then washed at least twice with warm water. Wheels weigh 250 to 400 g, 10 to 15 cm across and about 3 to 4 cm high. Qualigeo calls it the oldest of Piedmont's robiole, tracing it to Celtic colonies and to cheeses of Asti described by Pliny. A pure sheep's milk cheese may carry the words Solo latte di pecora delle Langhe.
Taste: Milk-white, soft and fine-grained, turning pale straw as it ages, with a delicately fragrant flavour that deepens and gains piquant notes with age. The all-sheep version smells stronger and tastes more of sheep's milk.
Ageing: 4 days minimum, 90 days maximum
Made in: Fifty communes of the Langhe hills in Cuneo province
DOP, first protected 1979Goat milk, rawFresh
A soft goat's milk robiola from the eastern Langhe, made from raw whole milk of Roccaverano and Camosciata Alpina goats and their crosses. After the milk acidifies naturally, rennet is added and the curd is drained in perforated moulds, dry-salted on both faces and sold fresh or ripened. Qualigeo reports that the Romans called such a cheese rubeola, from ruber, red, for the colour of the rind after ageing. Wheels weigh 250 to 400 g and are 2.5 to 4 cm high; Wikipedia gives a diameter of 10 to 15 cm.
Taste: Creamy and soft when fresh, with a colour that runs from milk-white to cream or yellow as it ages. Delicate, savoury and slightly acidic, more decided in the aged cheese. Goats eating lupinella give it a particular sweetness.
Ageing: Fresh 4 to 10 days; Affinato or Stagionato from 11 days
Made in: Nineteen communes of the Langhe in Asti and Alessandria provinces, centred on Roccaverano
DOP, first protected 2017Cow milkSemi, hardNatural rind
A semi-cooked, hard cow's milk cheese of the Ossola valleys, from Bruna, Frisona and Pezzata Rossa cattle and their crosses. Qualigeo credits the Swiss Walser settlers with developing the semi-cooking step. Its oldest document, from 1006, has Pietro, bishop of Novara, letting the buildings of the Pieve di San Vincenzo to Grimaldo for 100 pounds of Ossolano cheese. Wheels weigh 6 to 7 kg, or 5 to 6 kg for the d'Alpe version, made June to September from pastures at or above 1,400 m. Protected as a DOP in 2017.
Taste: A consistent, elastic straw-coloured paste with small irregular eyes. The flavour is aromatic and follows the seasonal pasture flora, more intense and fragrant with age.
Ageing: 60 days minimum
Made in: Thirty-eight communes of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola province
DOP, first protected 1955Cow milk, pasteurisedBlueNatural rind
A blue cheese shared between Lombardy and Piedmont, made from whole pasteurised cow's milk inoculated with lactic ferments, Penicillium spores and selected yeasts. The wheels are pierced with needles so the blue-green and grey-blue veins can form. Piedmont's part of the zone covers Novara, Vercelli, Biella, Cuneo, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and 31 communes of Alessandria. Two main types: Dolce, sweeter and softer, and Piccante, aged longer; a whole wheel weighs about 12 kg (Wikipedia).
Taste: Qualigeo gives the flavour as running from sweet or slightly piquant (Dolce) to very piquant (Piccante); Piccante is aged 80 to 270 days against 50 to 150 for Dolce. The paste is white to straw, marbled with blue-green and grey-blue veins, under an inedible grey or pinkish rind.
Ageing: Dolce 50 to 150 days; Piccante 80 to 270 days; Piccola Piccante 60 to 200 days
Made in: Provinces of Lombardy, and in Piedmont Biella, Cuneo, Vercelli, Novara, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and 31 communes of Alessandria
DOP, first protected 1955Cow milk, rawHardNatural rind
A slow-ripening, cooked hard cheese made across the Po plain; Piedmont's eight provinces are part of the zone. Raw milk partly skimmed by natural creaming is cooked in copper vats to at most 56 degrees, the mass is split into twin wheels, and they ripen at least nine months. Qualigeo traces it to Cistercian monks around the year 1000. Whole wheels weigh 24 to 40 kg (Wikipedia).
Taste: A finely granular paste, white to straw-yellow, with barely visible eyes under a hard, thick, smooth natural rind. The aroma is fragrant and the flavour delicate.
Ageing: 9 months minimum, Riserva over 20 months
Made in: Eight Piedmont provinces (Alessandria, Asti, Biella, Cuneo, Novara, Turin, Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Vercelli) and many more across the Po plain
Cow milk, rawSemi, hardNatural rind
A summer cheese of the Ossola alps, made only in July and August in a few high pastures of the communes of Formazza, Baceno and Premia from raw whole milk of Bruna Alpina cows. It is not a DOP; it is on the Italian traditional products list (PAT) and its name is a trademark. Wheels are semi-cooked cylinders about 30 cm across, 6 cm high and 5 kg, with a fire-branded rind. Cibo360 reports about 5,000 wheels a year.
Taste: Compact paste, straw yellow turning golden with age, with minimal even eyes. The flavour is herbaceous and intense, sweeter and more delicate young, spicier and more aromatic when aged, from aromatic alpine herbs the cows graze.
Ageing: 60 days minimum, often longer
Made in: High pastures of Val Formazza and Valle Antigorio in Val d'Ossola, above 1,800 m
