We are in Arona, in a very central position respect to the communication lines in North of Italy: 60 km from Milan, 120 km from Turin, 20 km from Malpensa International Airport.
In addition to visiting (preferably by appointment) our aging cellars you can buy our cheese in the shop for overtime.
Store opening hours: Monday to Friday 09:00 – 13:00 / 15:00 – 18:00 (Thursday and Friday until 19:00). Opening Saturday 08:00 / 13:00.
A good cheese refiner is brought to light an extraordinary range of his knowledge of people, places, animals, for his theoretical competence and skill, but also the availability of another equally important requirement: the suitable environments. In a garage in the center of Milan, or in a cold room, even the most brilliant of refiners can achieve a high profile.
A good environment is not only ideal humidity and temperature (for a cell that could also be enough, perhaps controlled by a sophisticated computer). The added value of a maturing room is its history, from the sedimentation of years, it would be better, for centuries, creating a perfect microclimate parameters that the result of bacterial selection, resulting from the use of materials and practices ” Rhone “environments and establish an atmosphere unique, with the imprint of the cheese will travel regularly. These conditions can be found already in existence or may be “imported” as a result of loving care.
The ancient caves of seasoning Guffanti Arona, in use from the nineteenth to 1990, were obtained in a fifteenth-century bastion walls of the city, where the military needs of the time led to dig a maze of tunnels and galleries, then transformed, after ‘demolition of the walls at the time of Napoleon, from dairy to use … great-grandfather Louis.
Logistics requirements and new regulations forced to abandon the excellent health caves, to carry all the activities in a complex, always located in Arona, that during the twentieth century had hosted a sausage factory, and was therefore equipped with extensive underground chambers for curing. On these new caves, which have been proven excellent in terms of climatic conditions, was performed a careful restoration and recovery, environment by environment, which has revealed many surprises.
Cleansed from their plaster walls are in fact emerged modern stone structures, recesses and doors bricked that show a long history of readjustments and changes undergone by these underground rooms. Recovering the memory of these interventions is difficult as we have said the war between the target and the eighties was the seasoning for meats, but perhaps earlier use was different. Whatever the use, provided plenty of water, because on one wall showed a well, walled and filled with river stones, which evidently served in the days when the water was yet to come. Behind a scale but has found the wall of what is probably an old cistern: this is one area where exploration has been postponed to a future, but allowed to vent in the basement of a continuous streak ‘ water.
In any case, it is very fortunate to have Guffanti for these environments so markedly devoted to curing. How to find the aroma of the cheese in a pasture that fed the animal, the imprint of the territory, the “mark” the skill of the cheesemaker, so you should be able to feel the history and characteristics of the environment where it was refined. The soil, stones and bricks, the microclimate, microfauna: Each winery has its true unmistakable stamp, and the cellar of Arona him. The location has its own importance, plain, hill or mountain, or even close to the sea, involving many changes, maybe small but not insignificant. The “caves” of Arona Guffanti, for example, can be found in the plain, a short distance from the shore of Lake Maggiore and near a large river that flows into the lake from the hills.
In summary: the environment is more than ideal for Guffanti ensure the use of a powerful tool for ‘”herd” of their cheeses, which become able, with their strong personalities, so many things to tell to those who knows how to listen.
To book a guided visit to our caves (with a tasting of our cheeses), please use the page “Contacts” in this website.
Are you planning a special anniversary, inauguration, refreshments, meetings? Instead of resorting to the usual pizza and puff you want to impress with something different, that will be remembered by your guests?
Guffanti arrange for all these occasions a catering service based on high quality cheeses, freshly prepared in small portions, and eventually matched withmustards, canned fruits and vegetables, honey, wineand beer… A wide range of choice, which can rangefrom fresh cheeses to those iperstagionati, and modeof presentation for all tastes and needs.
It is also possible to book tastings or lunches and dinners in our dedicated rooms.
Our Hospitality service will surprise you!
For information and booking please use the page “CONTACTS” in this website.
At our bistro area (cheeseBar ) you can have a snack, a brunch, you coan enjoy a bite of cheese (from Cantine Guffanti) and meats (our selection ). You can try our SandwiCHEESE(r) and drink a glass of wine .
Cheese, bread , wine and a good company…what could be better ?