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DAWN IN THE VICENZA MOUNTAINS
Fresh milk for breakfast, morning milking and the first stages of cheesemaking at 1,625 metres
Start the day inside a working mountain dairy on the Asiago Plateau
At 1,625 metres, this working summer mountain dairy farm produces Asiago DOP from cows grazing on the Plateau. On selected sunrise at the dairy farm mornings, locally called Alba in Malga, visitors arrive before breakfast, try milking a cow, drink fresh milk and watch Asiago cheese being made. The farm also produces butter, ricotta, local cheeses and sopressa, the traditional Veneto salame.
Damiano Baschiera · Unsplash
Know before you go
HOW TO GET THERE: The main practical advantage is that you can reach the malga by car via a gravel road. In other words, you can come for the sunrise and the cheese without earning either with a three-hour uphill climb. Hiking options: If you want to walk, the malga is a direct starting point for trails heading toward Cima Larici, Monte Portule, and Bocchetta Portule.
About
During summer, cattle graze the high pastures around the farm and the milk is processed on site into cheese, butter and ricotta. Malga Larici di Sotto is authorised by the Asiago DOP consortium to produce the protected cheese, so the visit connects pasture, milking and cheesemaking in the same place. The malga sells its own Asiago DOP in several maturities, together with caciotta, tosella, fresh and smoked ricotta, butter and sopressa. The kitchen also serves mountain dishes such as barley soup, pasticcio with Asiago DOP, polenta and tosella, cotechino and other simple plateau food.
THE MOUNTAIN DAY
The dawn experience is organised on selected summer dates. Visitors arrive early, try milking a cow, have breakfast with fresh milk and watch Asiago DOP being made. Several hiking routes pass close to the malga, including paths towards Cima Larici, Cima Portule and Bocchetta Portule. The building sits below Monte Portule with views towards Monte Verena, so breakfast at dawn can easily become the start of a full day in the high pastures.