Discover organic sheep's cheese from the unique sustainable organic farm Podere Il Casale, which operates in perfect harmony with nature.
When Sandra and Ulisse moved to the Pienza area of Tuscany in the 1990s, they had one dream: to build a farm surrounded by healthy soil that would produce clean food according to natural rhythms, as was common in the past. And their dream came true at the old stone farmhouse Podere Il Casale.
ORGANIC FARM: CLEAN FOOD FROM A CLEAN LANDSCAPE
In the beautiful, unspoiled landscape of the Val d'Orcia valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, they built an organic farm that is completely self-sufficient, even in terms of energy. From the very beginning, they began farming organically without pesticides, herbicides, or artificial fertilizers. Unlike many other farms, they did not focus on a single crop, but planted the land around the farm with a variety of crops, from grain, vegetables, olive trees, and grapevines to fruit trees, which provide them with a harvest throughout the year. Between the beds, fields, and orchards, they left wild nature, which together with them creates a harmonious living organism, provides shelter for various animals and insects, and helps maintain biodiversity and healthy soil.
0 KM: VEGETABLES FROM THE GARDEN STRAIGHT TO THE TABLE
The farm supplies local residents and its own restaurant, which is part of the estate, with its produce. This means that the produce does not have to travel halfway around the world in an environmentally unfriendly way, but ends up completely fresh in the stomachs of eager diners. And not a single carrot goes to waste here – anything that is not eaten immediately is carefully processed into jams, sauces, or pickled in oil.
FREE-RANGE FARMING: HERE, LIFE IS HAPPY, SLOW AND HEALTHY
In addition, the farm raises 200 Sardinian sheep, goats, pigs, and donkeys. The animals are not crammed into closed stables, but have access to extensive outdoor pastures full of diverse herbs, which they feed on naturally. Plenty of exercise, no stress, and a natural diet free of antibiotics, hormones, and stimulants are reflected in the quality of their meat and milk, which have a distinctive taste and a wide range of aromas and are full of nutrients.
0% PASTEURIZATION, 100% FLAVOR
The milk is not "killed" by pasteurization, so it remains alive, full of healthy lactobacilli, retains all its properties, and gives the cheese its unmistakable full flavor and aroma, which changes slightly throughout the year depending on what plants the animals are grazing on. Immediately after milking, the milk is cold-processed directly on the farm, without preservatives or other additives. Only rennet and a pinch of salt are added, the cheeses are shaped into molds, and then left to mature for 1 to 24 months, with regular turning, brushing, and, if necessary, coating with olive oil.
LIMITED PRODUCTION
Podere Il Casale uses sheep's milk to produce pecorino cheese, which is typical for this region and can now be found on our shelves and in our e-shop. You can choose from four pecorino cheeses of varying degrees of maturity, from fresh, which smells of milk and has a sweet taste, to Riserva, matured for at least 15 months, with a distinctive pungent taste. Due to the fact that production is very limited (imagine that 100 liters of milk are needed to produce one large wheel of pecorino, but each sheep only produces 1(!) liter per day) and is subject to the natural rhythms of nature, the cheeses may be unavailable at certain times of the year.