🧀 Stelvio

Stelvio, in German Stilfser, is an Italian cheese with a protected designation of origin (PDO), made from cow's milk in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol. The registered name has two forms, Stelvio and Stilfser, for the same cheese.

Milk and making. According to the specification, the milk comes from cows in the defined area, fed mainly on fresh grass on Alpine pastures and on hay and grass silage when stabled; feed from outside the area may not exceed 50% of the dry matter in the diet over a year. The milk may be lightly skimmed to a fat content of 3.45–3.80%. Rennet is added at about 32–33 °C.

Ripening. At least sixty days. The wheels are turned and washed with a weak saline solution at least twice a week; in the first two to three weeks local microflora of aerobic bacteria is added to it, which gives the rind its natural colour from yellow to orange-brown.

Look and taste. A cylindrical wheel with flat faces, 8–10 kg in weight, 34–38 cm in diameter and 8–11 cm high (cheese intended for slicing, cubing or grating may have another shape). The paste is compact, pliable and springy, pale to straw yellow, with irregular small to medium eyes. Fat in dry matter is at least 50%, moisture at most 44%. The flavour is aromatic and marked, at times pungent.

Area and marking. Rearing, milking, cheesemaking and ripening all take place in part of the province of Bolzano (Val Venosta, Burgraviato, Salto-Sciliar, Val Pusteria, Val d'Isarco and the municipality of Bolzano). The mark with the words Stilfser-Stelvio in red lettering is applied only after sixty days of ripening, together with the batch, production date and producer code. Portions may be packaged outside the area.