Last month I received tasting amples from the Monti Trentini cheese company located in Northern Italy. Michele and I liked the cheese and Michele also used them for some meals she prepared for us.
Two weeks ago another invitation came from the Monti Trentini company and this time it was for a wine and cheese tasting to be held at Eataly Flatiron in NYC.
The speaker was Maria Vittoria Finco, member of the Finco family that owns Monti Trentini, and their Marketing and Communications Director.
Maria said that the company began in1925 in the town of Enego, located in the Asiago Plateau, in old artisanal dairy where the Finco family started making cheese
In 1989 they started Casearia Monti Trentini in Grigno Valsugana in Trentino. Today the third and fourth generations of the family operate the full cheese making activity at the Grigno factory. The old dairy is still used for the production of Asiago, which Maria called the “Product of the Mountain,” and its aging caves.
Maria Vittoria said that Monti Trentini, with almost 100 years of experience, produces 30 different types of cheeses, from the well known and appreciated Grana Padano to a trendy cheese with truffles. “Everything that we produce is made in our plant in northern Italy surrounded by the Alps. We collect our milk in Trentino and Veneto regions of Italy and we produce, age and pack cheeses in the same location.”
Maria Vittoria told us some interesting and amusing stories about growing up in a “cheese family,” but said that she does not eat in every night.
The company’s exceptionally long tradition in the production of cheese made from the milk of mountain grazing cows from the Dolomites Mountains gives the cheese a unique fragrances of herbs and a distinctive yellow color. They only make cow’s milk cheese.
For the tasting, the cheese was arranged clockwise beginning at 12:00: Asiago, Caciotta Erbe, La Malghe di Vezzena, Aged Truffle Caciotta.
Ferrari Brut NV Methodo Classico 100% Chardonnay. Trento DOC. The grapes are picked by hand at the end of August and beginning of September. They come from various communes in the Val d’Adige, Val di Cembra and Valle dei Laghi. The vineyards are between 300 and 600 meters above sea level, with southeast or southwest exposure. The wine is aged for at least 24 months on the lees. Selected yeast from Ferrari’s own cultures are used. The wine has hints of apples, wildflowers and a delicate touch of brioche and undertones of ripe citrus fruit.
We tasted the Ferrari brut with the Asiago and the aromas and flavors of the wine blended very well with the soft creamy flavors of the cheese.
Asiago PDO Fresco produced from with cow’s milk, salt and rennet. Made only with milk from the POD area in Northern Italy. Ages for a minimum of 20 days. This is a mild cheese with a soft texture, white to pale straw in color.
Ferrari Perlé Rosé Riserva 2017 Trento DOC Method Classico Vintage 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay. This is a vintage Rosé from the Lunelli family estate vineyards, harvested by hand at the end of September on the hills surrounding Trento, between 300 and 600 feet above sea level with either southeastern or southwestern exposure. In 2017 there was mild weather and perfect ripening conditions. It is aged 5 years on selected yeasts. It is an elegant and complex Rosé with ripe red berry aromas and flavors with hints of raspberry, strawberries, currants and a long finish and pleasing aftertaste. This soft semi sweet cheese was a good match with the wine as its berry flavors brought out the mild herbal flavors of the fresh cheese.
Caciotta Erbe all natural cheese with Italian flavored with aromatic mountain herbs. It is a semi-sweet cheese and is aged for at least 5 days.
Cantina Lavis Trentino DOC Sauvignon Blanc made from 100% Sauvignon Blanc from vineyards in Giovo at 300 to 450 meters. Exposure is east, south and west and the training system is Trentino split pergola. There are 5,000 vines per hectare and the soil is clay loam, fertile and of medium depth. Manual harvest takes place in late September. There is a soft pressing of the grapes in a inert environment, then a static decantation of the must. Fermentation is at a controlled temperature in stainless steel tanks. 10% of the wine is aged in oak barrels. The wine remains on the lees for about 4 or 5 months before bottling. The wine has hints of grass, herbs, nettles, ripe fruit with a touch of elderberry.
La Malghe di Vezzena The cheese has a semi hard compact texture that gets more granular the longer the cheese ages. This cheese was aged for 3/4 months and the one labeled Vecchio is aged from 9 months and more. This is Maria Vittoria’s favorite cheese.
This was also my favorite cheese of the tasting but the herbaceous grass flavors of the wine did not match well with the slightly caramelized cheese with hints of roasted almonds. This cheese is and very similar to Grana Padano. I would have enjoyed it more with a spumante.
Foradori Teroldego Vignette Delle Dolomiti IGT made from 100% Teroldego from grapes grown organically. The winery is certified biodynamic. The vines were planted between 1956 and 2005. The older vines are pergola trained while the newer ones are guyot trained. The grapes are planted in the sandy, alluvial gravel soils of the Campo Rotaliano that shows all the classic dark-fruited aromas and flavors of the grape. There are 9 hectare of vineyards across various plots. Fermentation and fining in cement tanks and then 12 months in barrel and cement tanks. The wine has hints of blackberry, cherry, raspberry, violet and a touch of plum. I was very impressed by the wine.
Aged Truffle Caciotta Premium is a fine cheese produced with the addition of black summer Italian truffles. This would have been a perfect combination with the wine if the truffle flavor was less pronounced.
These are tasty cheeses for holiday entertaining.
Charles Scicolone on Wine 