Piave DOP

The cheese’s flavour is milky and sweet when it is fresh, which become more intense with ripening.

Fresh Piave DOP is ideal for melting and adding to a variety of local recipes, such as the traditional Belluno dish formai frit, which consists of fried cheese with polenta and kraut.

The Piave DOP cheese was born in the Belluno mountains, near the wonderful Dolomites.
Produced with cow’s milk, this cheese embodies the history of a territory that has always made the breeding of Alpine Brown cows the main economic engine of the region. In 1872 the first social cooperative was born which helped many small producers enhance their products and therefore be able to stay on their land.

The milk used for the production of Piave comes exclusively from the province of Belluno and at least 80% of it is produced by cattle breeds typical of the production zone: Bruna italiana (Italian Brown Cow), Pezzata Rossa italiana (Italian Red Pied Cow) and Frisona Italian (Italian Friesian or Holstein Cow).

The breeding methods follow traditional criteria based on the ties between the cattle breeds and the territory. The cows mountain graze during the summer months and also are fed with natual elements of the territory, namely meadow grass fodder supplemented with cereals, grains and corn.

Piave is a hard, cooked curd cheese with five ages:

Piave Fresco D.O.P. (20/60 days),
Piave Mezzano D.O.P. (61/180 days)
Piave Vecchio D.O.P. (> 180 days),
Piave Vecchio Gold Selection D.O.P. (> 12 months)
Piave Vecchio Riserva D.O.P. (more than 18 months).

The seasoning enhances the aromas of the cheese and makes it versatile in combinations with the great red wines of the Italian tradition.