Fontina

Way up the Aosta valley in north western Italy you’ll find the the original area where the cheese Fontina hails from. The best Fontina is still made there during some short summer months and is called Alpeggio. This is important because it identifies the cheese as a real mountain cheese, small scale made, as Fontina may be produced industrially elsewhere as well. The latter is “just another cheese”. But, almost as far as you can get up the Aosta valley, by the foothills of Mont Blanc, happy cows are grazing fresh grass and herbs during the summer months, providing the raw milk that goes into the cheese. Early fall it is time for the transhumance to the lowlands where their return is duly celebrated.

Fontina Alpeggio – a real mountain cheeseRead More »