Grana Padano has been a part of Italy’s proud gastronomic heritage for nearly 1000 years. A staple in Italian cuisine and produced in the Po River Valley (Pianura Padana), Northern Italy, it has become the world’s best-selling PDO cheese.
It is a hard cheese, made with raw, partially skimmed milk exclusively from the production area. It has a fine grainy structure and a mellow, tasty, yet never overpowering, flavour, and can be found in 3 vintages:
Grana Padano PDO – aged between 9 and 16 months, the youngest Grana Padano is softer and less grainy than the more mature versions. Pale yellow in colour, its taste is mild, milky and delicate. At this age, it is perfect for gratins, ideal as an appetiser or used as shavings on a fresh salad or beef carpaccio.
Grana Padano PDO “oltre 16 mesi” – with a soft straw-yellow colour, Grana Padano “over 16 months” has a grainier consistency and crumbles when cut. The sweetness in its flavour is less noticeable and it has a stronger, though never overpowering, tangy taste that make this cheese ideal for grating or simply as part of a cheese-board.
Grana Padano “Riserva” PDO – with over 20 months of ageing, Grana Padano “Riserva” features a grainy texture with a clear flaky structure and a dark, straw-yellow colour. This cheese may mature for over 24 months, giving it a richer and fuller taste. Besides being a special ingredient in a great variety of dishes, Grana Padano “Riserva” also works extremely well when served as part of a luxurious cheese-board with nuts, fruits and chutneys.
Due to these different ageing stages, Grana Padano cheese is a very versatile cheese, which can be served on its own or included in a variety of recipes. This versatility also enables Grana Padano to be paired with a great variety of wines, from a sparkling white wine for an aperitif to a dark and full-bodied red wine.
Grana Padano possesses unique nutritional features such as quality proteins, vitamins and mineral salts, especially calcium. It is an excellent natural, healthy and easy digestible food for everybody. Due to its production characteristics and long ageing, it is lactose-free making it ideal for people intolerant to this sugar.
Consorzio Tutela Grana Padano
Dating back to 1954, the Consortium for the Protection of Grana Padano PDO cheese – Consorzio Tutela Grana Padano – is a non-profit organisation, which brings together producers and curers to protect and promote Grana Padano PDO cheese in the world. It ensures that every wheel of cheese is made according to the Production Specifications so that it can be awarded its PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status and be fire-branded with the Grana Padano mark whilst also protecting it against fraud in Italy and abroad.
The Consortium is based in Desenzano del Garda, in the heart of the Grana Padano production area situated in Northern Italy, along the Po River Valley, from the Piedmont region to the Veneto region, up to the province of Trento in the north-east and, towards the south of the valley, a few areas of Emilia Romagna.