In the middle of the mountains of the Tuscan Apennines that overlook the Valtiberina you can find the Cooperativa Agricola Montemercole.
A family-run cooperative founded more than thirty years ago, as the 10 members say, who now feel part of a large, close-knit family, located 700 meters above sea level amid uncontaminated nature.
The ethical nature of the company is totally aimed at respecting the animals and the environment that hosts them, in fact the farms are outdoors and not intensive.
The animals graze freely, in the seventy hectares of land, breathing clean air; this allows them to have a very good quality of life and to give, therefore, products of the highest quality.
The outdoor breeding of Cinta Senese and Grigio pigs affects the flavor and compactness of the meat, giving the cooperative's salami a genuine and unmistakable taste.
Dairy cows, Pezzate Rosse and Brune Alpine, and the Sarde and Comisane sheep, grazing freely in the mountain meadows, give a rich and fragrant milk, which is then transformed into fine cheeses, directly in the company's dairy.
Like all country work, the Cooperative has no timetable, everything is conditioned by the weather, the animals, the season and the rhythm of nature. The members are well organized to guarantee their livestock an always attentive and constant presence.
The company has its own butcher shop where only meat from their own farms works. The continuous search for quality starts with a careful selection of the meat during processing. All meats produced have the complete absence of preservative coloring; for sausages, only natural casings are used.
The Cooperative produces only raw milk cheeses. This type of processing, possible only with healthy and genuine milk, does not include pasteurization and allows the cheese to preserve the aromas and flavors of mountain pastures, without altering the organoleptic and nutritional characteristics that would otherwise be lost with the high temperature. This choice of processing is in line with the ethics of the company that aims to maintain the genuineness of the products in full respect of the animals and the territory.
In July 2012, the members decided to open a sales point in the center of Arezzo with the name of Bottega di Montemercole. It was born as a gastronomy where to sell its products and also to turn them into tasty dishes typical of Tuscany, thanks to the small adjoining kitchen. The restaurant is open for lunch and the kitchen aims to enhance the company's meats and cheeses as much as possible. The menu offers traditional and authentic flavors, respecting the seasonality of vegetables and the use of first quality raw materials.
Discover the store Cooperativa Agricola Montemercole