Cicognolo

Home to fewer than a thousand residents, the small Cremona outpost of Cicognolo thrives amidst the fertile lowland pastures of Lombardy. This specific pastoral landscape fuels the production of Provolone Valpadana DOP, a stretched-curd cheese deeply rooted in a defined territory spanning 726 municipalities. Here, local dairy crafts thrive alongside other regional specialties, contributing to a total of 15 protected denominations overlapping this single territory. The area's damp, flat geography provides the ideal climate and lush forage for dairy cattle, yielding the rich milk necessary for both this iconic provolone and the historic, square-shaped Salva Cremasco DOP.