Ubriaco…
Uuuubriiiaaco…
Pete questioned whether I should even put these photos up, as they look like pictures of “dirty cheese” (his words). They’re actually photos of Ubriaco, an Italian cow’s milk cheese which has been covered with grape pomace, dunked in red wine, then matured for six months or more. The word “ubriaco” means “drunken” in Italian and this firm cheese, reminiscent of a pecorino or a parmesan, does indeed have a distinctive red wine aroma and flavour.
I snuck behind the counter at Paesanella with my little Lumix to take the photo below. The grape skins are edible and add a delicious crunch to the slightly sweet, crumbly texture of the cheese. Definitely one I’d buy again!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
That is my all time favourite cheese. I had it a few months ago and was very impressed.
I was just browsing and saw this post on Ubriaco. I love this cheese. I worked for a cheese importer and this is one of the cheeses we imported. You might be interested in this tidbit of history on it: The reason this cheese is immersed in wine/or grape pulp is in the “old days” the farmers were taxed on the products they were producing, so they hid the cheese in the wine vats so the officials couldn’t find it and therefore they wouldn’t be taxed on it. They found that the wine gave it a very good flavour so they continued the practice.
Cat, that’s a fantastic story! So many things are discovered by chance…thanks for sharing it with us. I’m going to tell that to the guys at the Cheese Shop next time I’m there… ;-)