Located inside the Fattoria dei Barbi,
the Caseificio dei Barbi – Barbi Cheese Dairy
is the guardian of our tradition and our brand,
like our wines. Launched for the first time
in the mid-19th century at Molin del Fiore (still part
of Stefano Cinelli Colombini’s estates today),
the Caseificio dei Barbi is the oldest
cheese production business still existing in Montalcino.
THE HISTORY
A history of the Caseificio dei Barbi has never been written but, considering that it is the oldest cheese production business still existing in Montalcino, it might be worth dedicating a few lines to it.
The current Fattoria dei Barbi originates from a purchase made in 1794 or 1795; in the family records we find both dates. At the beginning there were three farms: Podernuovo di sopra, Podernuovo di sotto and Podernuovo bianco which together formed the Podernuovi, plus Podernovaccio at the top of the hill. In the mid-1800s, the Poggio structure was built between these two groups of buildings, and the Fattoria dei Barbi, the Fiore and the Molin del Fiore, which centuries before had belonged to the Colombini, were bought from the Clementi. And it is to Molin del Fiore that we owe the beginning of the Barbi Dairy because Rosa, a particular woman, lived there. They said she had “warm hands”, which she used, together with herbs, to cure people and make cheese. Excellent cheese, no less. Then the bandit Bruscone arrived, and despite herself Rosa ended up in the newspapers because of a complicated story between her, her husband, another bandit Baicche and Bruscone that ended up in a shoot – out. Baicche was killed, Bruscone received a Royal Pardon and began a long career as a local legend and Rosa continued to cure people and make cheese, called the Cacio dei Barbi. It was excellent and created a little local fame, so Giovanni Colombini in the 1920s thought of equipping a real dairy and selling it with a label.
Montalcino has always made some form of cheese, but very different from the present one. They were low and wide shapes, with a diameter of 15 or 20 cm and no more than 5 or 6 cm high, with a black rind of olive oil dregs mixed with wood ash and very salty. It was food for hard times, mostly rind, and made to be so hard that a bite stayed in your mouth for a long time. Sometimes in the paste there was black pepper not chopped, the part left over after curing pork. Rosa’s cheese was quite another thing: it was the food of the nobiles and Giovanni Colombini put it on sale with his beautiful label in the newly restored Fortress of Montalcino in the late 1930s. It was a fresh or dry pecorino cheese similar to the current one,rounded shapes weighing a kilo and a half lightly salted, with all the fragrance and flavor of the milk of the sheep that ate our herbs. It was a success, which continued over the years until the transfer of the small dairy from the Barbi to the current headquarters of the Podernovi. Rosa was succeeded by her niece, again named Rosa and still with warm hands, ideal for making cheese, and in the 1960s the famous admirers began. Piero Jahier, the founding writer of “La Voce”, spent his summers as a guest of Giovanni Colombini and always wanted some on his return to Florence as did Federico Fellini, who convinced the Colombinis to make giant five-kilo shapes refined for eighteen months which were a authentic delight also loved by Sergio Zavoli and many others.
In those years the exodus from the countryside led to the end of Tuscan farming, but a large Sardinian community brought their sheep and allowed the survival of the cheese tradition. The presence of two extraordinary police chiefs from Sardinia in the Montalcino station, Soro and Spada, favored the amalgamation of the two communities and kept the countryside alive even where there is no vineyard or olive grove: without that union, who knows if the Val d ‘ Orcia with its gentle rolling hills that everyone loves would still exist.
In the 70s the Caseificio dei Barbi created the cacio ubriaco, or ‘drunk cheese’, a pecorino aged in immersion in the Sangiovese grapes of Montalcino, and the truffle of the local Crete Senesi territory began to be used. Some curious experiments were made, such as the cheese aged in terracotta olive oil containers, the one aged in straw and the one with Presura rennet, the Val d’Orcia artichoke that was used in the Middle Ages.
TODAY
Today the Caseificio dei Barbi continues its centuries-old tradition of cheeses made only from sheep’s milk thanks to the hand of the young Sardinian cheesemakers Salvatore Soddu and Angela Zizi and is specialized in small 330 g single-serving pecorino cheeses refined according to recovered traditions: We age them in olive paste, in walnut
leaves, treated with tomato, with extra virgin olive oil, aged with maturation in the ziro (the Siena terracotta jar), up to the drunken ones with Sangiovese wine aging, those with truffles and with the most typical pepper of Montalcino. Excellence of Montalcino Cheeses (The Vinsanto Sheep Cheese, the Sheep Cheese from a plant-based rennet and The Bianchetto White Truffle Sheep Cheese) and a medium and long seasoning type are also made; from December fresh ricotta is available again, also with truffles, as well as marzolino, sburrata and by reservation also raviggiolo.
AWARDS/h3>
2026.07.28 | At the Great Taste Awards 2026, Caseificio dei Barbi, Montalcino (www.caseificiodeibarbi.it), was awarded the programme’s highest distinction: Three Stars for its Cacio al Miele di Castagno e Polline. In the same edition, Pecorino Stagionato received Two Stars, while Cacio alla Presura was awarded One Star. >>
2026.06.28 | Caseificio dei Barbi of Montalcino (www.caseificiodeibarbi.it) has earned two new international distinctions at the 129th International Cheese & Dairy Awards. Cacio di Pio was awarded the Gold Medal in the category for traditional Italian pecorino cheeses, while Pecorino Semistagionato received the Bronze Medal in the category for cheeses made from 100% ewe’s milk. >>
20.12.2025 | Al Frankfurt International Cheese & Dairy Products Trophy 2026 il Caseificio dei Barbi di Montalcino | www.caseificiodeibarbi.it porta a casa altri due Ori e un Argento, rispettivamente per Pecorino Semi-stagionato, Cacio di Pio e Cacio affinato in Pasta di Olive >>
1.12.2025 | Il Caseificio dei Barbi di Montalcino | www.caseificiodeibarbi.it conquista una medaglia d’oro al Concours International de Lyon – Fromages et Produits Laitiers 2026 per il Cacio affinato in Foglie di Noce >>
24.11.2025 | Il Caseificio dei Barbi sul podio ai World Cheese Awards 2025. Il Caseificio dei Barbi di Montalcino | www.caseificiodeibarbi.it ha conquistato altri tre premi ai World Cheese Awards 2025: Super Gold per il Cacio alla Presura | Eccellenze di Montalcino, Argento per il Pecorino stagionato e Bronzo per il Pecorino stravecchio, >>
17.09.2025 | Le Mondial du Fromage 2025: il Caseificio dei Barbi vince altre 5 medaglie. Il Caseificio dei Barbi di Montalcino | www.caseificiodeibarbi.it porta a casa altre 5 medaglie dal Mondial du Fromage et des Produits Laitiers, conclusosi da poco a Tours, in Francia >>
10.08.2025 | Sempre più premiato il Caseificio dei Barbi: il Cacio 24 Mesi conquista due stelle oro al Great Taste 2025 Al Great Taste 2025 il Caseificio dei Barbi di Montalcino | www.caseificiodeibarbi.it conquista 2 stelle oro >>
10.07.2025 | Caseificio dei Barbi da podio: dall’Inghilterra altri 4 ori e 2 bronzi per i caci ilcinesi. Al The International Cheese & Dairy Awards 2025 Caseificio dei Barbi di Montalcino | www.caseificiodeibarbi.it ha ricevuto quattro Ori e due Bronzi >>
18.12.2024 | Ancora pioggia di medaglie e un ‘grande-oro’ per il Caseificio dei Barbi. Al Frankfurt International Cheese & Dairy Products Trophy 2025 Caseificio dei Barbi di Montalcino | www.caseificiodeibarbi.it ha ricevuto un Grande Oro, due Ori e un Argento >>
30.11.2024 | Due Ori e un Argento per il Caseificio dei Barbi al Concours International de Lyon – Fromages et Produits Laitiers 2025. Il Caseificio dei Barbi di Montalcino | www.caseificiodeibarbi.it conquista due medaglie d’oro e una d’argento al Concours International de Lyon – Fromages et Produits Laitiers 2025 >>
26.11.2024 | World Cheese Awards 2024: in Portogallo altre 6 medaglie per il Caseificio dei Barbi. Il Caseificio dei Barbi di Montalcino | www.caseificiodeibarbi.it porta a casa altre 6 medaglie dal World Cheese Awards 2024, conclusosi da poco a Viseu, in Portogallo >>
09.07.2024 | Tre Ori e quattro Argenti per il Caseificio dei Barbi all’International Cheese & Dairy Awards 2024. Il Caseificio dei Barbi di Montalcino (SI) | www.caseificiodeibarbi.it di nuovo sui gradini più alti del podio, questa volta all’International Cheese & Dairy Awards 2024 >>
08.12.2023 | Ancora due Ori internazionali per il Caseificio dei Barbi. Il Il Caseificio dei Barbi di Montalcino (SI) | www.caseificiodeibarbi.it ha conquistato altre due medaglie d’oro, questa volta al Frankfurt International Cheese & Dairy Products Trophy >>
24.11.2023 | Oro per il Caseificio dei Barbi al Concours International de Lyon – Fromages et Produits Laitiers 2024. Il Caseificio dei Barbi di Montalcino (SI) | www.caseificiodeibarbi.ita Montalcino (SI) vince l’Oro per il Cacio 24Mesi al Concours International de Lyon – Fromages et Produits Laitiers 2024 >>
16.09.2023 | Oro e Bronzo per il Caseificio dei Barbi al Mondial du Fromage 2023. Il Caseificio dei Barbi di Montalcino (SI) | www.caseificiodeibarbi.it tra i vincitori de Le mondial du fromage et des produits laitiers 2023. Da 6 edizioni momento imperdibile per gli addetti ai lavori, Le mondial du fromage, organizzato in collaborazione con l’International Cheese Guild >>
04.11.2022 | Il Cacio all’aglione del Caseificio dei Barbi si aggiudica il premio Bronze ai World Cheese Awards 2022. Il Caseificio dei Barbi di Montalcino (SI) | www.caseificiodeibarbi.it è stato nominato tra i vincitori dei World Cheese Awards, che si sono svolti mercoledì 2 novembre presso l’International Convention Centre Wales a Newport. Distinguendosi tra 4,434 prodotti iscritti, il Cacio all’aglione >>
DAIRY FARM SHOP
Dairy Farm Shop of Caseificio dei Barbi | Barbi Diary Farm
Open Monday to Friday | 9AM – 1PM for sales.
In the afternoon by appointment by contacting via whatsapp +39 348 381 5014
Closed on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays.
Cheeses from the Dairy can also be purchased at the Wineshop / enoteca and at Taverna dei Barbi during opening hours.
Information: caseificio@fattoriadeibarbi.it – Tel. +39 0577 841236 – whatsapp +39 320 806 4188
GUIDED TOURS
Guided Tours of Caseificio dei Barbi | Barbi Diary
Guided tours are available until to September 30, on Mondays and on Thursdays.
Guided Tours of the Caseificio dei Barbi are carried out on Mondays and on Thursdays at 10:40- and at 4pm. Reservations are required.
The cheese tasting is not included in the tour.
Tour length: 40 min
Languages spoken: Italian, English.
Full Price:€ 10 per person. Free admissions: Children under 18 years old; tour guides and drivers accompanying groups.
Information and reservation: Infoline: +39 335 6504517 whatsapp – visite-e-tastings@fattoriadeibarbi.it
Caseificio dei Barbi
Località Podernovi, 170 | Strada Consorziale dei Barbi
53024 Montalcino (SI)
Dairy Farm and Dairy Farm Shop Tel: +39 0577 841236 | +39 320 806 4188 whatsapp
Mail: caseificio@fattoriadeibarbi.it
Guided Tours: +39 335 650 4517 whatsapp
Mail: visite-e-tastings@fattoriadeibarbi.it
