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Cheese from Italy, Veneto

Formaggio inbriagoformaggio ubriaco

Formaggio inbriago ("drunk cheese") is a finishing method, not a make. Sound semi-cooked wheels aged at least 60 days are buried in soft, freshly drawn grape pomace for 8–30 days, then dried, cleaned and aged 15–30 days more. The pomace stains the rind straw yellow or violet and gives the paste a wine aroma.

Fully documentedCheese2.7 months – 2.1 yearsTraditional food product (PAT, Veneto)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe atlas gives times but no amounts; the pomace must surround each wheel completely.
Semi-cooked cow cheese wheels, aged at least 60 days and up to 24 monthsAsiago, Montasio, Latteria or wheels made for the purpose; no cracks, swelling or mould[veneto-atlante]
Soft grape pomace, just drained and not pressedThe atlas says pomace from various grapes; the ONAF sheet names local white or red grapes such as Prosecco, Cabernet, Clinto, Fragolino and the passito wines[veneto-atlante][onaf-sheet]

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.7 months – 2.1 years

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Starting material: sound wheels of semi-cooked cow cheese, at least two months old

Step 1 of 4
Choose sound aged wheels
Time
2 months – 2 years
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Only wheels with no cracks, swelling or mould are used. Output: base wheels.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Formaggio inbriago ("drunk cheese") is a finishing method, not a make. Sound semi-cooked wheels aged at least 60 days are buried in soft, freshly drawn grape pomace for 8–30 days, then dried, cleaned and aged 15–30 days more. The pomace stains the rind straw yellow or violet and gives the paste a wine aroma. Made in 4 steps over 2.7 months – 2.1 years. The longest step, choose sound aged wheels, takes 2 months – 2 years (Regione Veneto).

Key numbers
Main step2 months – 2 yearsReported[veneto-atlante]Choose sound aged wheels

What makes this one different

The cheese is made like any Treviso dairy cheese; what makes it inbriago is weeks buried in unpressed grape pomace after at least two months of ripening.

Milk
Cow milk, as for the base cheese
Rind
Slightly lees-stained ('morchiata'): deep straw yellow from white pomace, violet from red pomace
Size
As the base cheese; wheels made for the purpose may be marked 'inbriago' on the side

Related ferments

Variants

  • White-grape pomaceStraw-yellow rind.
  • Red-grape pomaceViolet rind.
  • Passito pomaceA second, separate immersion is allowed.

Safety

Only sound wheels with no cracks, swelling or mould go into the pomace.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The story in the regional atlas is that during the First World War farmers around Conegliano and Oderzo hid cheeses under grape pomace from requisitioning Austro-Hungarian soldiers, and the pomace gave the wheels their distinctive aromas.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
Temperature, salt and pH
The sources we found give no temperature, salt or pH figure for any of its steps.
  1. [veneto-atlante] Regione Veneto, Atlante dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali del Veneto, Formaggi, Formaggio inbriago, p. 151gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet Formaggio inbriagoweb
  3. [onaf] ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Formaggio inbriago' (id 1069)web