Cheese, wine and the harmony of nature

Cheese, wine and circular agriculture: Taste respects nature

Two products of excellent quality, an artisanal business that has embraced a mutual relationship with nature and the local area: Ruth and Andrea's journey takes them to Vitale Girardi's Malga Ribelle.

A fine seasonal cheese, a glass of wine, a social gathering or an opportunity to meditate, relax and enjoy the moment. Certain products have a natural connection and when tasted together, they not only delight our taste buds, but also provide a pleasant and enjoyable experience.
Cheese is one of the foods – or perhaps even the most important – that we like to have on the table and often indulge in between meals. There are hundreds of types of cheese, from the most appreciated to the lesser-known local products, from soft to hard cheeses, from the more mature and flavorful cheeses to the fresher and more delicate ones.
It goes without saying that cheese and wine are a classic combination. However, we are not referring here to scientific theories, technical elements or organoleptic analyses, but rather to a more emotional and rooted aspect – that of sharing.

Malga Ribelle's perfect ecosystem
In the kitchen and everyday life of Our Rustica, cheese and wine are an essential combination that must be chosen carefully, thoroughly and lovingly: the same care, attention and love that Vitale Girardi, owner of the Malga Ribelle farm in Farra di Soligo, gives to his livestock, prunes the vines, produces cheeses and cares for his land.
Vitale, Ruth and Andrea had a special meeting that brought together like-minded souls who passionately believe in the importance of land and self-sufficiency and work to maintain a constant balance between man and nature.
After gaining extensive experience abroad that took him from New Zealand to France, where he worked on farms and organic farms, Vitale set out to establish Malga Ribelle on the Prosecco hills, translating his idea of ​​circular, zero-waste farming into practice.
His goal is to manage the entire wine and cheese production and create an ecosystem where all elements interact with each other: for example, the manure used in the vineyards comes from the cows, completing the natural life cycle at the heart of this virtuous economy.

Bubbles and raw milk: the flavors of our region
Malga Ribelle produces one type of wine and several different types of cheese depending on the season and available time: in a company where the work is purely artisanal, the pace of production is determined by the human factor.
The cheeses produced include soft cheeses such as stracchino, ricotta, caciotta and robiola, as well as a mature cheese, although they vary from season to season and reflect the choices Vitale makes. In fact, he strongly believes in the importance of grazing for a high-quality finished product and uses only raw milk (without adding external microbiological flora), which results in a more complete, richer product that is processed over a longer period of time.
When it comes to seasonal cheeses, which are fresh in winter and mature in summer when the livestock is fed in alpine pastures, what the cows graze on is crucial, as it determines the taste, and this depends a lot on whether they are fed hay or grass.
“Prosecco col Fondo” Vitale Valdobbiadene DOCG, which is refermented in the bottle without residual sugar, made from grapes harvested when ripe and grown in rocky soil, is considered the most emblematic wine from the area.
With a low sulfur dioxide content, it is a balanced and easy-to-digest wine that immediately pleases the taste buds and nose with its mild bubbles, great acidity and minerality, which are very common in wines produced in this area, where the clayey soil produces elegant wines with a good balance between acidity and the salty notes, flavor and aroma.
It's almost as if Vitale created this wine specifically to be paired with a cheese buffet, but the basis for such a perfect match is probably simply the hand of nature and a territory where products and ingredients are in harmony with each other.

Quality, emotions and hospitality: Ruth and Andrea's winning combination

Ruth and Andrea always put quality, respect for nature and production methods first when choosing a product. But when it comes to sharing it with their guests, they look for a story to tell, a passion to communicate, an emotion to experience together.
Cheese can be found in many food preparations and recipes in Andrea's kitchen; for example, in delicious risottos and filled focaccia bread, and is often found on wooden cutting boards decorated with edible flowers, served with vegetables and cured sausage.
Accompanied by a bottle of Prosecco, which should always be ready in the freezer, it's the easiest and most sincere way to welcome new guests and make them feel at ease immediately.