Asiago cheese and wine: a guide to every age

Asiago PDO was born on the Sette Comuni plateau but is now made across a wider area of Veneto and Trentino. It is a cheese with two personalities, fresh and aged, and each stage of ageing asks for a different wine. This is the guide to building a board that works, from the first glass to the last.

Two cheeses, not one

• Asiago Fresco: whole milk, aged 20 to 40 days. White or pale straw paste, large irregular holes, a mild, buttery taste. Past 40 days it becomes Fresco Riserva, creamier and fuller.
• Asiago Stagionato: partly skimmed milk, at least 90 days. With time the holes shrink, the paste turns crumbly and the flavour concentrates.

The label may also say Prodotto della Montagna, mountain product: milk, cheesemaking and ageing all above 600 metres. This is the version that tastes of pasture.

The ages and their wines

Asiago Fresco

Delicate, it needs a wine that does not cover it: a Prosecco Brut or a Pinot Grigio delle Venezie.

Asiago Fresco Riserva

Creamier, it can take a white with a little more body, such as Soave Classico or Lugana.

Mezzano, 4 to 10 months

Straw-coloured, small scattered holes, notes of grass and hay. It wants an aromatic white: Müller Thurgau, Riesling or Gewürztraminer from Alto Adige.

Vecchio, 10 to 15 months

Crumbly, granular paste with a bold, lasting flavour. A Trento DOC with at least 30 months on the lees matches the texture; among reds, a Bardolino.

Stravecchio, over 15 months

Almost no holes, concentrated hay and grass, high savouriness. A Valpolicella Classico or a Tai Rosso, local reds that balance without overpowering.

How to build the board

• From youngest to oldest. Guide the palate, do not surprise it.
• One wine per age, three or four glasses at most. A few precise pairings beat a whole cellar.
• Open with bubbles. Prosecco Brut with the Fresco to start, Trento DOC or Franciacorta with Mezzano and Vecchio.
• Keep the extras simple. Mountain honey, walnuts, a light mostarda, rustic bread.

Temperatures

• Sparkling: 6-8 °C.
• Still whites: 7-10 °C.
• Light reds: 14-16 °C. Fuller reds: no warmer than 18 °C.
• Cheese: out of the fridge at least half an hour before serving.

The rule in one line

The older the cheese, the more the wine can grow: from light bubbles to the local red.