What's in the Collection
The Italian cheese counter at igourmet covers the full range of styles Italy is known for, with more than 80 cheeses imported from across the country. The hard cheeses anchor the selection: Parmigiano Reggiano DOP at 24 months and the rarer Vacche Rosse version, Grana Padano DOP, Pecorino Romano DOP from both Lazio and Sardinia, and the long-aged Asiago d'Allevo and Piave Vecchio from the Veneto. Soft and fresh styles include Taleggio DOP from Lombardy, Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP from Campania, and the bloomy-rind Quadrello di Bufala. The blue cheeses are represented by Gorgonzola in both its sweet (Dolce) and sharp (Piccante) DOP forms, plus Mountain Gorgonzola and Blu di Bufala for cooks who want something less familiar. Regional specialties round out the collection: Fontina Val d'Aosta from the Alps, Caciocavallo DOP from the south, Montasio DOP from Friuli, Provolone Piccante from the Po Valley, and Sottocenere al Tartufo from the Veneto.
What unites the collection is sourcing. Most of the wheels arrive whole and are cut and wrapped in-house at igourmet, which means the cheese is portioned to order rather than sitting pre-packaged. The producers represented include Mitica, Luigi Guffanti, Fratelli Pinna, Casearia Arnoldi, I Siciliani, and Silano, alongside igourmet's own cut-and-wrapped service for the wheels that move fastest.
Italian Hard Cheeses for Grating and Eating
The aged hard cheeses are the largest single category in Italian cheesemaking and the ones most American cooks reach for first. Parmigiano Reggiano DOP is the most famous: a raw-milk cow's milk cheese aged a minimum of 12 months, with the 24-month version delivering the deeper savory complexity most home cooks want. Grana Padano DOP is its closest cousin, made under similar rules across a wider geographic zone, with a slightly milder, sweeter profile and a lower price that makes it the everyday-grating choice in many Italian kitchens. Pecorino Romano DOP is the sheep's milk counterpart, sharper and saltier, the cheese that built classic Roman pasta dishes from cacio e pepe to amatriciana. Asiago d'Allevo DOP from the Veneto plateau ages from a few months to multiple years, moving from supple and mild when young to brittle and intense when old. Piave Vecchio, also from the Veneto, sits between Parmigiano and Asiago in flavor, with caramel and pineapple notes that make it a strong eating cheese rather than just a grater.
The hard cheeses do jobs the soft cheeses can't. They grate cleanly over hot pasta, melt slowly into risotto, and shave cleanly with a vegetable peeler over a salad. They also keep for weeks in good wrapping, which makes them the practical anchor of an Italian-leaning fridge. For cooks who want the depth without the search, the Italian Cheese Assortment combines four of the most-used hard cheeses in a single shipment.
Soft, Fresh, and Stretched-Curd Italian Cheeses
The soft side of Italian cheesemaking covers more ground than most American shoppers realize. Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP leads the category, made from water buffalo milk in a defined region around Naples and delivering a richer, tangier flavor than cow's milk mozzarella, with a structure that softens dramatically at room temperature. From Lombardy comes Taleggio DOP, a washed-rind cheese with a fruity, almost meaty flavor under its thin pink rind; Quadrello di Bufala takes the same shape and rebuilds it with buffalo milk for a creamier, milder result. Provolone bridges fresh and aged: young Provolone Dolce is mild and milky, while Provolone Piccante develops a sharp, almost spicy bite that earns it a place on antipasto plates and sandwiches rather than just a melting pan.
Ricotta Salata is the firm, salted, dry-aged version of fresh ricotta, made for grating over pasta alla Norma and warm vegetable dishes. Caciotta al Tartufo combines a soft cow's milk base with shavings of black truffle, an entry point for cooks who want the truffle aroma without committing to a stronger cheese. These are the Italian cheeses that anchor antipasto and finish dishes — the working soft cheeses, not the showpiece soft cheeses.
Regional Italian Cheeses Worth Knowing
Italy has more named cheese varieties than any country in Europe, and most of them never reach American supermarkets. Caciocavallo DOP, the gourd-shaped semi-hard cheese from the south, hangs in pairs over a wooden beam to age — the name translates to "horse cheese" because of how the pairs straddle the rope. Aged versions develop a sharp, slightly sweet flavor close to a young Provolone. Up in the Alps, Fontina Val d'Aosta melts beautifully and is the traditional base of fonduta, the Piedmontese version of fondue. Friuli's Montasio DOP sits in similar territory but firmer and nuttier, meant to be eaten as much as cooked. The southern sheep's milk cheeses include Pecorino Calabrese, sharper and more rustic than its Roman cousin, while Sottocenere al Tartufo from the Veneto is the truffle-flecked cheese aged under a layer of ash that gives the rind its distinctive grey color.
These regional cheeses are how the Italian counter goes deeper than the average gourmet store. Most American shoppers know Parmigiano and Mozzarella, fewer know Caciocavallo or Fontina Val d'Aosta, and almost none know MiticaSardo (the trade name for Fiore Sardo, the smoked Sardinian sheep's milk DOP) or Lou Bergier Pichin, a raw-milk Toma Piemontese from a small Alpine producer. For cooks who already use the basics, this is the layer worth exploring next.
Also Worth Exploring
For pantry items, sweets, snacks, and oils that complete the Italian table, see the broader Italian foods collection. For Italian cured meats — prosciutto, salami, soppressata, mortadella — that anchor the antipasto board alongside cheese, the Italian meats collection covers the full range. For ready-to-ship cheese gifts that travel well and arrive presentation-ready, the cheese gift baskets and boxes include several Italian-anchored assortments.
Italian Cheese: Frequently Asked Questions
Italian cheese is the broad category covering more than 400 named varieties produced across Italy, from the long-aged hard cheeses of the Po Valley to the fresh stretched-curd cheeses of the south. The country has more registered cheese types than any other in Europe, with around 50 of them protected by DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta) status — the EU framework that ties a cheese's name to a specific region, milk source, and production method. The most-used Italian cheeses fall into four working groups: hard grating cheeses (Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano, Pecorino Romano, Asiago d'Allevo, Piave); soft and washed-rind cheeses (Taleggio, Robiola, Quadrello di Bufala); fresh and stretched-curd cheeses (Mozzarella di Bufala, Provolone, Burrata, Ricotta); and blue cheeses (Gorgonzola Dolce and Piccante, Blu di Bufala). Regional specialties like Caciocavallo, Fontina Val d'Aosta, Montasio, and Fiore Sardo sit alongside these as cheeses worth seeking out beyond the supermarket basics.
The Italian cheeses with the widest international recognition are Parmigiano Reggiano DOP, Grana Padano DOP, Pecorino Romano DOP, Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP, Gorgonzola DOP, and Mascarpone. Parmigiano Reggiano is the most famous of all — the long-aged raw-milk hard cheese from Emilia-Romagna that anchors Italian cooking. Mozzarella di Bufala from Campania is the second household name, made from water buffalo milk in a defined region around Naples. Gorgonzola is Italy's blue cheese, available in a sweeter Dolce version and a sharper Piccante version, both protected DOPs from Lombardy and Piedmont. Beyond the most familiar names, Taleggio (washed-rind from Lombardy), Fontina Val d'Aosta (Alpine melting cheese), Asiago (from the Veneto plateau), Provolone (stretched-curd from the south), and Caciocavallo (the gourd-shaped cheese hung in pairs to age) are the cheeses Italian cooks reach for after the headline names.
Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano are close cousins — both hard, long-aged, raw-milk cow's milk cheeses from northern Italy, both protected DOPs, both used for grating and eating. The differences are real but subtle. Parmigiano Reggiano comes from a tightly defined zone in Emilia-Romagna and parts of Lombardy, must be aged a minimum of 12 months (24 months is the most-sold version, with 36 and 48 also produced), and uses milk from cows whose feed is restricted to grass and hay. Grana Padano covers a wider geographic zone across the Po Valley, allows a slightly broader range of cattle feed including silage, and ages for a minimum of 9 months. The flavor consequence: Parmigiano Reggiano tends to be more complex, with deeper savory and fruity notes at 24+ months, while Grana Padano is milder, sweeter, and more approachable, especially at younger ages. Both grate cleanly. Both keep well. For everyday cooking and grating, Grana Padano is often the better value; for an eating cheese or a finishing shave, Parmigiano Reggiano at 24 months and above is worth the difference.
Caciocavallo is a stretched-curd, semi-hard cow's milk cheese from southern Italy, traditionally shaped like a gourd or teardrop and hung in pairs over a wooden beam to age — the name translates to "horse cheese," a reference to how the pairs straddle the rope as if riding it. The texture is similar to a young Provolone, with a smooth, elastic interior under a thin natural rind, and the flavor develops from mild and milky when young to sharp and slightly piquant when aged for several months. Caciocavallo Silano DOP is the protected version, made in the Apennine regions of Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, and Puglia. It's used across the south for melting (caciocavallo impiccato is the dish where the cheese is heated over an open flame and scraped onto bread), for slicing onto antipasto, and for grating onto pasta and vegetables in older versions. For American cooks who want to move beyond Mozzarella and Provolone, Caciocavallo is the most natural next step in the stretched-curd category.
Pecorino Romano and Parmesan are both hard Italian grating cheeses, but they come from different milks and sit at different points on the flavor scale. Pecorino Romano DOP is made from sheep's milk (pecora is Italian for sheep) and is produced primarily in Sardinia and Lazio, aged a minimum of 5 months. The flavor is sharp, salty, and assertive, with a tangy bite that comes from the sheep's milk. Parmesan in the United States is a generic term that can refer to anything from Parmigiano Reggiano DOP (the protected, long-aged Italian original) to domestic American "parmesan" with no relationship to Italy. The closest direct comparison is Pecorino Romano vs. Parmigiano Reggiano: Pecorino is sharper, saltier, and more pungent; Parmigiano is rounder, sweeter, and more savory. Roman pasta dishes — cacio e pepe, pasta alla gricia, amatriciana, carbonara — traditionally use Pecorino Romano, while northern Italian cooking and Parmesan-style finishing typically uses Parmigiano Reggiano. Many cooks keep both in the kitchen.
Italian cheese reaches the US through a combination of FDA-regulated imports and refrigerated cold-chain logistics. Hard cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano, and Pecorino Romano travel well — their low moisture and long aging make them stable enough for ocean freight in temperature-controlled containers. Soft cheeses like Mozzarella di Bufala and Taleggio are more delicate and typically arrive by air freight to preserve freshness. Raw-milk cheeses can be imported into the US only if they have been aged at least 60 days, a rule that excludes most fresh raw-milk styles but allows the long-aged Italian DOP cheeses (Parmigiano, Grana Padano, Pecorino Romano, aged Asiago, Fontina Val d'Aosta, Montasio, Caciocavallo) to enter without issue. igourmet imports directly from Italian producers and affineurs, receives the wheels in temperature-controlled warehouse storage, and ships individual orders in insulated packaging with frozen gel packs to maintain the cold chain to the customer's door. Standard ground shipping is not used for cheese orders. Full shipping details and timing are available on the shipping information page.