How Fontina PDO is produced, an artisanal process

The production of Fontina PDO follows precise methods and must join respect precise rules to define itself as such and to return that tasty cheese so loved in Italy and around the world. Not by chance, the PDO specification - i.e. the rules that define in detail the raw materials to be used and the characteristics of the cheese in order for it to bear the PDO label - is very clear on how to prepare the Fontina PDO.

Starting, of course, with one assumption: everything takes place in Valle D'Aosta, the only geographical area where Fontina PDO can be produced.

The production of Fontina PDO: the selection of milk

First of all, the milk. It is the first step in the production of Fontina PDO and must have certain characteristics. It must be:

• raw,
• whole,
• from a single milking,
• of cattle belonging to the Valle d'Aosta breed (pezzata rossa, pezzata nera, castana). Cross-breeds between them also apply.

The cattle's diet is also essential and the PDO specification even identifies the ratio between fodder and concentrates: two-thirds fodder and the rest concentrates. Moreover, at least 60% of the feed ration in dry matter must be produced in Valle D'Aosta.

Cows can be fed various types of fodder, cereals (and derivatives), oilseeds (and derivatives) and fats. For example with:

• fresh or hayed fodder of stable polyphytic grassland, ryegrass and alfalfa,
• cereal straw such as wheat, barley, rye and triticale,
• corn,
• wheat,
• oats,
• soya,
• sunflower,
• protein pea.

Similarly, the production of Fontina PDO prohibits the use of certain cattle feeds, like fodder silage or fermented, potatoes, vegetables in general, turnips and tomatoes, or the use of antibiotics, hormones and urea.

Milk processing in the production of Fontina PDO

Once the milk has been collected, it is processed. Before coagulation, the milk must be kept at a temperature of no more than 36° C. After that, the coagulum is broken to obtain homogeneously sized curd granules. At this point, the spin phase takes place over a fire, which must reach a temperature characteristic of semi-cooked cheeses. This phase is completed off-fire until the cheesemaker decides that the curd granules are sufficiently purged.

When the bleeding reaches the optimal level, the extraction and bagging takes place. In other words, the cheese mass is wrapped in cloth and then placed in the typical concave heel moulds that are stacked and placed under a press.

A casein plaque, bearing an alphanumeric code identifying the cheese, must be applied at the first turning. While the identification plaque of the producer, with the number assigned by the Consortium, is applied before the final pressing phase. This phase continues until the next processing stage and in the meantime the cheeses must be turned over to facilitate the draining of the cheese mass. After this, at the end of the pressing phase, within 24 hours and for no more than 12 hours, the cheeses can be subjected to the brine operation by placing them in vats containing a solution of water and salt.

A drying period of up to 15 days can be carried out before curing.

Maturation during the production of Fontina PDO

After the milk has been processed, the production of Fontina PDO involves taking the wheel off the shelf and turning it over for salting the side that was resting on the shelf. After the wheel has been placed back on the shelf and the salt has been checked to ensure that it has dissolved, the wheel is taken out to be rubbed on the side that was previously salted and on the heel using brushes and a solution of water and salt. After that, it is placed back in its original position.

These operations ensure that the rind develops properly. There is no precise method to ensure this: it is up to the person in charge of operations to assess when it is necessary to carry out the turning, salting and rubbing during the maturing process, which must take place in warehouses with a humidity of at least 90% and a temperature of between 4 and 12°C.

The production of Fontina PDO follows rules and standards that have been consolidated over the years. It is these that give the cheese its characteristics, taste and shape, envied the world over. It is a set of processes and rules that have been handed down for generations: this is the only way to obtain the best Fontina PDO.