‘Montasio’ is a cheese made from cow’s milk, with medium or long ripening, cylindrical in shape, with a straight or almost straight heel and flat or slightly convex sides. It is produced from non-pasteurised milk based exclusively on natural lactic leavens or authorised fermenting agents. The minimum ripening period is 60 days and the moisture content is monitored by boring at 10 and 60 days of ripening. At 60 days of ripening, cheese bearing the PDO ‘Montasio’ must have the following characteristics: a maximum moisture content less than or equal to 36,72 %; fat content in dry extract: at least 40 %; weight: 6 to 8 kg; diameter: 30 to 35 cm; heel: at most 8 cm; rind: smooth, regular and elastic; paste: compact with a few openings; colour: natural, drawing on straw yellow; aroma: typical; flavour: agreeable, tending towards spicy in the case of long-ripened ‘Montasio’.

The PDO ‘Montasio’ is produced from milk from farms located in the production area.

The main breeds reared are Brown Swiss, Italian Red Pied and Black Pied.

No preservatives are added and no heat treatment is authorised, except for cooling to a minimum temperature of 4 °C.

The cows’ feed comprises 75-85 % raw cereals, dry and green fodder and silage. The remaining 15 to 25 % raw feed comprises concentrates and protein cattle-cake. The use of mineral and vitamin supplements is authorised. 60 % of the feed comes from the geographical area. Feed which traditional cheesemakers regard as adversely affecting tyrosis is banned, such as fodder from marshy land or located beside busy roads. Also not authorised are vegetables, fruit and rape, or the by-products of processing rice, meal of animal origin, industrial feed for medical use, moist or ensilaged fresh beet pulp, by-products of beer or of distilled products, ensilaged fodder (except ensilaged hay and ensilaged maize) and fermented substances from the industrial processing of fruit, beet, beer and distilled products.

The whole production process (cattle rearing and milk production, coagulation, processing the curds, moulding, draining, salting and ripening) must take place in the area defined under point 4.

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The product is identified by marking, at the outset, in a specific mould which states the producer’s code, the provincial acronym and the production date (year, month, day). The ‘stamp of origin’ of the PDO ‘Montasio’ consists of the name ‘Montasio’ written obliquely the right way up and upside down (Figure No 1).

The ‘stamp of origin’ is put on all the production of the associated and non-associated holdings, on condition that the production has been obtained in compliance with the specification.

1) Branding of the name ‘Montasio’ and sticker bearing the letters ‘PDM’

2) Month of production/3) Day of production/4) Cheesemaker’s code/5) Provincial acronym/VI) Year of production

The product logo comprises a stylised capital ‘M’, below which ‘MONTASIO’ is written. This logo must always be reproduced using the ‘HORATIO’ font. It must comply with the proportions of Figure No 2 (for example, 8 cm wide and 6 cm tall).

When the whole production process — from producing the milk to ripening for at least 60 days — takes place in a mountain area, as defined in the national legislation in force, located within the production area of the PDO ‘Montasio’, the cheese’s label may state ‘mountain product’. To that end, a sticker with the letters ‘PDM’ (‘prodotto della montagna’ = ‘mountain product’) will be affixed to the heel.

On cheese loaves of ‘Montasio’ which have ripened for more than 100 days, the Consorzio per la Tutela del Formaggio Montasio may, at the request of all the associated or non-associated producers, brand onto the part of the heel intended for that purpose the logo of the name, after its prior verification (Figure No 2).

The natural factors are linked to the climatic conditions in the production area, comprising mainly mountains and foothill areas where mountain and meadow grazing are still practised, which influences the quality of the fodder intended to feed the dairy cows.

‘Montasio’ was added to the market price list of San Daniele and Udine in 1773/1775. This attests to the marketing of ‘Montasio’ and shows that it was not only a local product or intended for domestic consumption. The close link between ‘Montasio’ and the production area is also attested by the strong impetus which the production of this cheese gave to the development of cooperatives. ‘Montasio’ and its specific production method quickly spread in Friuli and western Venice, because of both human and structural factors (such as the invention of cooperative cheese dairies or the establishment of a school for cheesemakers) — to the point where there were more than 650 cheese dairies active in the 1960s — and because of the environment itself within which that method first developed.

As regards the characteristics of the production area, the eastern part of Italy has always been and is still marked by considerable spring and autumn precipitation, which favours pasture and cereal-growing (wheat and barley), which is the basis of dairy cow feed. Maize-growing and therefore the use of maize as fresh feed and for ensilage also gained in importance over time. More recently, the cultivation of soya, a protein supplement, has expanded in the production area.

The main characteristic of ‘Montasio’ is its great suitability for medium- to long-term ripening. In the range of national cheeses, ‘Montasio’ is among the semi-hard cheeses, but as it can be ripened for up to 36 months, it is also among the category of rare long-ripened hard cheeses.

Another characteristic of ‘Montasio’ is in the dimensions of the loaf.

Moreover, the PDO ‘Montasio’ has retained in its specification the ban on pasteurising the milk, thereby preserving to the absolute maximum extent possible the spontaneous bacterial load of the milk produced in the production area.

The suitability for medium-/long-term ripening is the result of ‘soft’ technology. Small doses of lactic fermenting agents are used (about 1 %), cooking is done at low temperatures (between 42 and 48 °C) and the draining and pressing give the cheese a medium firmness, with a moisture content at two months (which corresponds to the minimum level for marketing the cheese) of about 36 %.

The environment in which ‘Montasio’ developed has microbiological characteristics adapted to its development and dissemination. ‘Montasio’ is characterised by the presence of a thermophilic microbial flora which has always made it possible to obtain a unique cheese product of its type, to be consumed fresh (at least two months’ ripening nowadays, because it is produced from non-pasteurised milk) but it can also be ripened for up to 36 months; this cheese therefore has organoleptic characteristics, a consistency, flavours and aromas which vary over time, precisely thanks to the bacterial load naturally present in the meadows/pastures and the fodder in the production area.

In fact, at two months’ ripeness ‘Montasio’ is a medium-firm cheese with a delicate flavour reminiscent of the milk from which it is produced. As ripening is extended and substances concentrate, ‘Montasio’ acquires more marked and slightly spicy flavours and the cheese becomes firmer and crumblier.

With the improvement in rearing methods, crop rationalisation and the introduction of ever more hygienic milking methods, it became necessary to enrich the milk with cheese micro-organisms useful for the production of ‘Montasio’. Thus lactic fermenting agents (high in cocci and low in bacilli), from the milk in the production area, started to be used, a practice which subsequently became widespread.