Once upon a time there were two brothers named Gioacchino and Luciano Del Ben who, around the late 1980s, began aging cheese in the attic of their parents Modesto and Teresa.
After about two decades of hard work and continuous improvements, the desire arose in them to get involved in everything and open their own dairy where they would produce the cheeses they aged themselves. They thus approached the historic Latteria di Aviano, founded early last century, which Gioacchino admired for its role in the area, filled with history and experience.
It was the historicity of this dairy that convinced the brothers to buy it and give it a new imprint.
It was only a matter of time before Linda, Veronica, Luca, and Alessio joined with their parents to transform the Latteria di Aviano into a family-run business that would not only produce and sell cheese, but also make it a protagonist and untether it from the stereotype of cheese as we are used to seeing it
" we take cheese out of the context of the store "
Think back to when our grandparents had a glass of wine: they would take some from the demijohn in the cellar and not worry about the vintage, the provenance or whether it was a good Cabernet Sauvignon rather than a Merlot, it was just a bicèr de nero [“glass of red”]. The cheese today is comparable to that bicèr de nero of the grandparents, a diamond still in the rough.
In fact, Linda has become a Master Cheese Taster and often holds classes and tastings to raise awareness of cheese culture by presenting it in special settings, such as jewelry stores for example, to enhance it with pairings designed for every situation - even weddings! Beautiful, isn't it?
The idea of offering cheese in contexts other than the original to prove that it lends itself to any occasion is named smart cheese - as Veronica explains in her dissertation, and has become the goal of Latteria di Aviano.
The Del Ben family also puts a lot of passion into communicating the characteristics of their products, as in the case of their naturally lactose-free cheeses.
Do you know what it means?
During aging, the lactic bacteria in the cheese naturally break down lactose (the milk sugar) into glucose and galactose, so that even people who are lactose intolerant - that is, lacking the lactase enzyme to break down, that is, digest, lactose - can eat many types of cheese, including fresh, such as 30-day-old Latteria without then exhibiting symptoms resulting from intolerance.
But not only foresight and communication: the Latteria di Aviano family is always looking for new contaminations with other companies and the territory to come up with special cheeses such as Modesto Sotto Paglia, dedicated to grandfather Modesto and aged in straw in an environment reminiscent of the tuff aging pits of Central Italy, or Italiko, born from a collaboration with the Moderno Opificio del Sigaro Italiano of Orsago (TV), which supplies the tobacco leaves to wrap the cheese in the refinement - that is, the flavoring of the cheese during aging.
Two brothers and their sons, with their passion and determination, have given birth to a young environment, full of energy and love for that historic craft that has a whole new flavor, that tastes of culture.
To learn about all of Latteria di Aviano's products and events:
via Vittorio Veneto, 45 - 33081 Aviano (PN)
0434-651330
Facebook: @latteriadaviano
Instagram: @latteriadiaviano
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