The birth of Ubriaco cheese: a story of "resistance"

Today we are all used to defining as Ubriaco any cheese that has been aged in wine. It has become a common term that is part of the daily lexicon, at least in the cheese context. But where does this habit of using the term “ubriaco” to describe this specific type of cheese come from? The story is often one that connects many successful Italian productions. It is about cases, coincidences, or when events force one to make virtue out of necessity.

Antonio Carpenedo of La Casearia Carpenedo tells us about a tradition that many farmers and winemakers in the Treviso area, especially in the foothills, practiced: placing the not-yet-aged cheese tomes inside barrels where the grape pomace resided. A tradition born by chance during the years of World War I, when farmers and cheesemakers, to save the cheese tomes from being taken by Austro-Hungarian soldiers, hid them under the pomace. This practice then faded over the years, remaining a tradition known only to a few families.

But how did Antonio learn about this tradition? A farmer approached Antonio every year for some young Montasio cheese to take home, and this piqued his curiosity. Antonio wondered, “What does he do every year with the fresh and unaged Montasio?” So one day he decided to ask him. The farmer revealed this particular technique to him and brought him a tome after it had aged in the just-drained pomace for Antonio to taste. Antonio realized that the flavor of the cheese changed considerably for the better. From there, he came up with the idea to replicate that aging method and improve it to ensure better results in the aging process.

This is where the production of new cheeses began, and he decided to name these products “Ubriaco.” The locals to whom he sold these products were thrilled! This is exactly how the first officially recognized aging laboratory in Italy got started. From there, a world was born, adapting that idea of “resistance” and preservation against the belligerents of the past into a superb technique that created a new category of cheeses in Italy and around the world. Antonio's insight has made us all a bit happier at the table. Yes, because what would a cheese board be today without a ubriaco cheese?

Bernardo Pasquali

S&M