Spressa delle Giudicarie

Appearance & taste

Spressa delle Giudicarie is a cylinder with slightly convex sides; the wheel measures 30 to 35 cm in diameter, is 8 to 11 cm high and weighs 7 to 10 kg. The rind is grey-brown or dark ochre. The firm paste is white to pale yellow and has a few small to medium-sized holes; in young cheese it is particularly elastic.

The taste is mild to savoury; with increasing age a barely perceptible, slightly bitter note is added. The fat content in dry matter is between 33 and 43 %. The cheese is sold whole or in pieces, as “giovane” (young, ripened for three months) or “stagionato” (matured, six months). The lettering “DOP ‘Spressa delle Giudicarie’” is embossed into the rind on one or more sides, larger than all other information on the cheese; a mark identifies the dairy and the batch.

Production

The milk comes from cows of the native Rendena breed and of the Bruna, Grigio Alpina, Frisona and Pezzata Rossa breeds. They are fed with hay from permanent grassland consisting mainly of grasses; milk from cows fed exclusively on grass or silage is among the milk excluded.

Raw milk from two or three consecutive milkings is processed. It is partly skimmed by removing the cream that has risen to the top. The cheese is made by the semi-cooked method. Milk production, processing, cheesemaking and ripening take place in the area.

Origin & history

Production was originally limited to the Val del Chiese and the Val Rendena; over time it spread to all of the Valli Giudicarie and the Val di Ledro. The area has an Alpine climate with cold winters and relatively cool, rainy summers. The plentiful precipitation, partly as snow, favours the pasture and meadow plants; in addition there are numerous rock plants endemic to the Alps.

The cheese belongs to a farmhouse way of production that was long rooted in the village economy and the eating habits of the people of the Valli Giudicarie. According to the specification, it has helped to slow down emigration from the mountains. The “Regola di Spinale e Manez” of 1249 is cited as early evidence. The “Urbario” of Don Marini names the “Spressa da polenta” as the typical cheese for 1915 and 1916, and account books of the dairy of Coltura di Ragoli list Spressa in the years 1926 to 1934. At the time of the application, just over 24,000 wheels a year were being produced from 2.7 million litres of milk from 150 farms.