Our warehouses

THE COOPERATIVA PRODUTTORI LATTE E FONTINA'S WAREHOUSES

In addition to the Saint-Christophe headquarters, Cooperativa now has six maturing rooms carved in the land, with a total capacity of about 150,000 cheese wheels. Most of the warehouses used to be military sites used during World War II, except for the warehouse in Valpelline, located in a tunnel that leads to an ancient copper mine, used for extraction until 1946. Nowadays, the old rails used for the transport of minerals are used for the handling of the cheese wheels.

The environmental conditions of the warehouses are characterised by very high relative humidity (> 90%) and by a temperature of around 10°C constantly throughout the year.

Approximately 60 people work in the six maturing warehouses. They take daily care of the different steps involved in the maturing process and guarantee the quality of the maturation of the cheese, alternating salting, turning and manual brushing.

As tradition dictates, we only use scales for our cheeses made of spruce wood (Picea Excelsa).

OUR LOCATION

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Issogne

A tunnel was initially built for the maintenance of an underground power channel for a power plant; later it was enlarged by the German army during the last war to use it as a ball-bearing factory, sheltered from bombing. It has been used by the cooperative since 1971 for the maturation of cheeses conferred by members, especially from the lower Aosta valley. Its overall capacity is around 20,000 forms.
Montjovet

Considered the twin of the Issogne warehouse, which is about 10 km away. The tunnel was built for the same need and has the same features and infrastructure. It differs in capacity (18,000 wheels) and in the period in which the cooperative began to use it, which dates back to 1994.
Pré-Saint-Didier

The first warehouse used by the cooperative is located at about 1,000 meters above sea level, at the fork that leads to the Piccolo San Bernardo hill, along State Road 26, almost at the entrance to the town, in front of the Cooperativa's sales chalet. This is a former military bunker dug into the rock at the beginning of the Second World War. Recently renovated with significant internal and external interventions, it was opened in 1957 and can accommodate over 13,000 forms.

Palleusieux

It too is a military bunker from the last world conflict. It is located on the orographic left of the Valley, therefore on the opposite side to that of Pré-Saint-Didier, about 200 m higher and has the same construction and environmental characteristics. Being exposed to the south, the temperature range is slightly higher and to maintain optimal temperature conditions it has recently been equipped with a refrigeration system. Equipped by the cooperative in 1965 in a warehouse for the maturation of Fontina PDO, over the years it has undergone considerable improvements both internally and externally and has a capacity of about 13,500 wheels.
Valgrisenche

Dug out of the rock, this warehouse was created from the ancient powder magazine of a military fort dating back to the period of the French Revolution. It is located at an altitude of 1685 meters (the highest-altitude warehouse of the cooperative) and up to 7,000 wheels of Fontina can be matured inside.
Valpelline

The warehouse, opened by Cooperativa in 1961, is located inside the old Preslong copper mine, which was exploited until the mid-1940s. The signs of the mining activity inside are still visible today thanks to the sliding rails of the mineral transport trolleys. In 1994, thanks to the enlargement of some tunnels, it was possible to obtain […] a cave of considerable size, with a capacity that today reaches 60,000 shapes. Next to the warehouse entrance is the Visitor Center open to the public, where it is possible to have an overview of the entire production chain of Fontina D.O.P.

HISTORICAL PHOTOS

THE VALPELLINE WAREHOUSE

The search for storage facilities was directed from the outset towards pre-existing underground structures that could guarantee the desired environmental and proximity characteristics. The Santa Barbara gallery of the abandoned Preslong mine in the commune of Valpelline soon proved to be a winning solution. In 1964, part of the gallery was granted for the ripening and storage of cheese.

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THE PRÉ-SAINT-DIDIER WAREHOUSE

This was Cooperative's first warehouse. This former military bunker was dug into the soil at the beginning of World War II. It has recently undergone some external upgrades and refurbishment, but with some limitations ordered by the Regional Superintendence for artistic and cultural heritage reasons to maintain the overall external aspect of "war remnant", as a symbol for future generations.

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THE VALGRISENCHE WAREHOUSE

A Cooperative warehouse near the fort of Valgrisenche built at the end of the 13th century and situated at the highest altitude (1700 metres). This ensures an excellent balance between temperature, which remains around 8°C all year round, and humidity, reaching 98%.