Castelmagno D.O.P. d'Alpeggio p.Slow Food Gr. 2000

The Castelmagno has very antique origins. Today Castelmagno, classified as a cheese with controlled denomination of origin in 1982, is produced in small quantities in Castelmagno, Pradleves and Monterosso Grana, in the province of Cuneo. Castelmagno is produced starting from the cow’s whole milk (with rare, eventual additions of small percentages of sheep and goat milk) coming from cows of the Piedmont breed fed with fresh fodder or hay coming from mixed meadows or pastures. The cheese obtained in the Castelmagno farms is considered as especially valuable. Castelmagno has a seasoning period not lower than 20-22 weeks, spent in real natural caves, fresh and damp, or in some Caraglio cellars. A Castelmagno cheese generally has the following characteristics:- Shape: cylindrical - Crust: thin, yellow-reddish, with the ageing it becomes darker and more wrinkly - Paste: friable, of a pearly or yellowish colour, if seasoned for a long time it takes a gold yellow colour, with blue veins. All the cheeses are marked with a species of "C" meaning Castelmagno.