Casa Madaio - 'Cinerino' Sheep Cheese Aged in Myrtle Ashes (Campania, priced per ounce)

Casa Madaio · 'Cinerino' · Sheep's Milk · Campania, Italy

In the rugged hills of Cilento — a UNESCO World Heritage landscape in southern Campania — the Madaio family has been crafting cheese by hand for generations. Their 'Cinerino' ("the ashen one") is among their most distinctive creations: a raw sheep's milk cheese aged beneath a blanket of myrtle wood ashes, a preservation technique rooted in the pastoral traditions of southern Italy. The ash does more than protect the rind — it perfumes it, drawing in the wild, resinous aromatics of Mediterranean scrubland and imparting a mineral complexity that no industrial process can replicate.

Beneath that striking grey exterior lies a paste that is supple and yielding when young, firming into something more concentrated and expressive with age. On the nose: warm lanolin, dried herbs, and a whisper of wood smoke. On the palate: rich, tangy sheep's milk with a long finish of toasted nuts and wild myrtle. The ash rind adds a mineral edge that keeps every bite lively and intriguing. Serve at room temperature with chestnut honey, pair with a glass of Fiano di Avellino, or crumble over roasted vegetables for a taste of Campania at its most elemental.

• Producer: Casa Madaio
• Origin: Cilento, Campania, Italy
• Milk: Raw sheep's milk
• Style: Ash-aged semi-firm
• Aging: Rind aged in myrtle wood ashes
• Tasting Notes: Lanolin, dried herbs, wood smoke, toasted nuts, wild myrtle, mineral finish
• Pairings: Chestnut honey, Fiano di Avellino, Aglianico, roasted vegetables, arugula salad
• Pricing: Per ounce — order exactly what you need

One of southern Italy's most singular cheeses — ancient technique, wild terroir, and the unmistakable character of Campanian sheep's milk.