Only 1,000 wheels are produced each summer, using milk from four mountain huts. This historic cheese, which we haven’t had in our range for the last two years, is now back with renewed energy. Of course, we have never stopped the supply of the winter version, but the one made with summer milk certainly expresses greater complexity, both in terms of taste and organoleptic depth. 

SUMMER PRODUCTION

And the summer Puzzone di Moena that we like is the one from the Caseificio di Predazzo e Moena, because it is the one that most reminds us of the Puzzone we had in our catalogue 30 years ago: soft, fatty, with a slightly wet rind.
The dairy, founded in the early 1990s thanks to the merger of the two old dairies of Moena and Predazzo, still has 10 members/suppliers. They run their farms in the municipalities of Moena and Predazzo and guarantee the dairy about 100 quintals of milk every day, mainly from Brown Swiss or Red Pied cows. The milk is thermised and then enriched with milk starter, which is also made in the dairy. The cheese is semi-cooked, and the curd is formed in wooden moulds and then salted in brine. 

Puzzone is a washed-rind cheese: in the first two or three weeks of its life, the rind is brushed twice a week with slightly salted warm water; this treatment is then continued once a week until the cheese has been matured for at least 90 days. 
The cheese-aging cellar, known as the caveau, is a true gem. Located beneath the dairy, it houses the entire production in rooms with varying temperature and humidity levels. Naturally, Puzzone matures in the most humid area, resting on Val di Fiemme fir boards: in this aging room, the characteristic aromas of a damp cellar, wet wood, and undergrowth can be fully appreciated.

The Puzzone di Moena di Malga cheese we are presenting is about five months old, with an intense straw yellow colour and a texture that is both soft and compact. The aromas are those I mentioned earlier linked to the aging room, while in the mouth it reveals a nice fatty and soluble texture, with sweet notes of cooked butter and slightly bitter notes of herbs and pasture. The finish is moderately pungent... otherwise, it wouldn’t be a Puzzone!