Caseifici Aperti: A Guide to the Open Dairies Parmigiano Reggiano Event

Caseifici Aperti — Open Dairies — is an annual event held each October across the Parmigiano Reggiano production zone, which spans the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Mantua, and Bologna. For one weekend, the working dairies open their doors to visitors, running guided tours of the production process from the morning milk delivery through to the aging rooms. It is one of the few occasions when you can watch the casari at work and see the full cycle of cheese-making in a single visit.

The event is free at most participating dairies, though some require advance booking as places are limited. For current dates, the list of dairies, and booking links, check the official Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium website.

What to Expect at the Dairy

Most visits follow the production process in sequence. You arrive mid-morning and move through the stages with a guide. The scale is striking: the copper vats hold over 1,000 litres of milk each, and a single wheel requires around 550 litres. The casari work in pairs and the precision involved — breaking the curds with a spino, reading the temperature by hand, lifting the curd mass in a single piece with muslin cloth — is something photographs do not fully convey.

At the end of the tour, most dairies offer a tasting. The difference between a 12-month, 24-month, and 36-month wheel is significant — the texture moves from supple and milky to granular and intense — and tasting them side by side is the clearest way to understand what aging does to the cheese.

The Parmigiano Reggiano Process

1. Milk collection: made from a mix of evening and morning milk. The evening milk rests overnight so the cream can rise and be skimmed, then combined with fresh morning milk.
2. Copper vats: milk goes into large bell-shaped copper vats, heated gently and mixed with natural whey starter and calf rennet.
3. Breaking the curd: as the milk coagulates, the curd is broken into small granules using a spino, then heated until the granules settle at the bottom.
4. Forming the wheel: the curd mass is lifted in muslin cloth, divided in two, and placed into circular moulds called fascere. Each mould is stencilled with the date and dairy code.
5. Brining: wheels are submerged in a brine bath for around 20 days to develop the rind and add salt.
6. Aging: wheels move to wooden shelving for a minimum of 12 months. Most are aged 24 months; some dairies produce 36-month and older wheels.
7. Consortium inspection: at 12 months, inspectors test each wheel with a small hammer, listening for voids or cracks. Wheels that pass receive the fire-branded mark. Those that do not are stripped of rind markings and sold as generic grana.

Planning Your Visit

• When: one weekend each October — check the Consortium website for the exact dates each year
• Where: dairies are spread across Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Mantua, and part of Bologna province
• Booking: many dairies require advance registration — contact them directly or use the Consortium booking system when it opens
• Language: most tours are in Italian; some larger dairies offer English-language options — confirm in advance
• Year-round visits: dairy visits outside the event can be arranged through the Foodies’ Delight food tour from Bologna or Modena, or via the contact page

If combining the dairy visit with a wider trip, Parma and Modena are both within easy reach of the production zone and worth a day each.