Robiola di Roccaverano

What is Robiola di Roccaverano Cheese?

Roccaverano comes from the hills of the Langa Astigiana in Piedmont. It is made in Roccaverano and nine other municipalities in the Province of Asti, plus nine in the Province of Alessandria. The cheese was already known in the Middle Ages and was made only from goat's milk until the early twentieth century. Cow's and sheep's milk were added later because the local Roccaverano goat was disappearing; by 1990 only 200 animals were left. A presidential decree made the mixed-milk version a DOC product in 1979, the European Community added it to the protected designation of origin list in 1996, and a change approved in 2023 sent it back to pure goat's milk and to the name Roccaverano.

Production runs all year from raw whole goat's milk taken from two consecutive milkings within 24 or 48 hours. Milking, cheesemaking and ripening all happen inside the designated area. The herds hold only Roccaverano and Camosciata delle Alpi goats and their crosses, grazing pasture and neighbouring woodland from 1 March to 30 November, where the trees also shade them in summer. More than 80 percent of the feed must come from the production area, maize and grass silage are banned, and no genetically modified material is permitted.

The wheel is cylindrical with flat, lightly textured faces and slightly bulging sides, 10 to 14 cm (4 to 5.5 in) across and 2.5 to 4 cm (1 to 1.6 in) high, weighing 250 to 400 g (9 to 14 oz). The paste is white and free of holes, running from creamy and doughy to firm and compact. It melts on the tongue. Young cheese tastes mild with a fine note of green grass and medicinal plants; with more age it turns stronger and spicier, with roasted hazelnut and a quiet goat note. From the third day of ripening, fat is at least 40 percent of dry matter and protein at least 34 percent.

Two grades are sold. Prodotto fresco, from the fourth to the tenth day, carries a thin natural mould layer if any rind has formed at all, and its milky white paste is soft, creamy and lightly acidic. Prodotto affinato, from the eleventh day, has a cream, straw or faintly reddish mould coat, and the paste firms up with longer ripening while the savoury layer just under the rind stays creamy. Packing happens in the production area, with a seal label showing the PDO logo, the producer number and the label number on an ochre ground. Wheels reach shops whole and packaged, or go unpackaged to ripening and finishing houses. In 2023 the trade came to 138 tonnes and 1.6 million euro.