Ubriaco al Prosecco – Drunken Cheese

Ubriaco or Umbriaco is a cow’s milk hard cheese that has been soaked in wine and preserved with the skins, seeds, and leftovers the wine making process. When Olive Oil in the Northern regions of Italy was scarce, the cheese was preserved with the grape harvest leftovers instead of Olive Oil.

Prosecco is generally a dry sparkling or still white wine that is produced in the Lombardy region, and is similar to Asti Spumante from Piedmont. Those two adjoined regions border the Alps. Like many other Sparkling wines, the secondary fermentation of Prosecco takes place in stainless steel tanks, which makes the wine much less expensive to produce than traditional Champagne.

Ubriaco al Prosecco is generally aged for less than one year. It starts off as a semi-soft wine, but has a texture that is firm and crumbly like an aged cheese such as Parmigiano. It has a very slight floral-winey taste. It can be crumbled like a good Parmigiano, but is best when shaved into long slices and served with a good affordable bottle of Prosecco Sparkling wine.

I was fortunate to find this gem at The Gourmet’s Pantry in the Lebanon Farmers Market. Ubriaco al Prosecco is such a unique and delicate cheese that would complement a great fruit and cheese platter or an anti-pasti tray.

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