Dairy
Fontina
Fontina is a semi-soft to semi-hard cow’s-milk cheese from the Aosta Valley in the Italian Alps, with a supple, melting paste, small scattered eyes, and a mild nutty, buttery flavour that grows earthier with age. Traditional Fontina Val d'Aosta PDO is raw-milk, washed-rind alpine cheese; generic “fontina-style” melting cheeses made elsewhere are milder and more industrial. It is essential for fonduta, polenta, and alpine baked dishes, and excellent sliced for bread. True Aostan Fontina carries a Consortium mark; kitchen substitutes often rely on similar alpine melting cheeses when PDO wheels are unavailable.
Also known as: Fontina Val d'Aosta PDO, Fontina-Style
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Characteristics
Preparations
Traits
History
Records from the Aosta Valley mention fontina-type mountain cheeses traded from high pastures.
Washed-rind melting cheeses were established in Valdostan farmhouse and village dairying.
Italian DOC protection began defining Fontina’s link to the Aosta Valley.
EU PDO status for Fontina Val d'Aosta fixed raw milk, breeds, and alpine methods.
Generic fontina-style blocks spread internationally as melting cheese distinct from PDO Aostan wheels.
Consortium branding and export of true Fontina emphasised nutty alpine character for specialty markets.