The Rolling of The Cheese

Spring has come to Pienza.  The varied colors from last Fall are gone…replaced by the vivid green of the year’s new growth.  There's fog in the Val D’Orcia each morning, but it burns off to warm, sunny afternoons.

It feels wonderful to be back in our home away from home.  It's been great seeing old friends, all of whom have given us the warmest of welcomes.

The signs of Spring are everywhere.  The sheep that produce the milk for Pecorino di Pienza have had their lambs…who are still wobbly on their feet.

The grape vines have leafed out and will soon go through Spring pruning.

The olive trees are now being pruned to maximize production of fruit.

The poppies have just started to bloom.  In a few weeks, the fields will be a riot of color…bright reds and greens.

You might think all this would mark the coming of Spring in Pienza.  But no!  

What marks Spring in Pienza is the rolling of the cheese.

Like almost everything in Italy, this event is preceded by a good deal of fanfare.  Drill teams put on a show to the  cadence of a drum beat…

…highlighted by flag thrown high in the air from one person to another.

Then comes the rolling of the cheese.

The contestants wrap a wheel of Piezna’s finest in a sling.

They then take a running start…almost like bowling…and fling the cheese down Pienza’s main street…Via Rosselini…being careful not to step beyond the red flag.  The contestant who can roll the cheese the farthest wins.

It’s more difficult than you think.  

First of all, the wheel of cheese weighs 26 pounds.  

Second, the street slopes uphill and is made of cobblestones, which over the centuries have settled in at odd angles…making it more like an obstacle course than a bowling alley.

Nonetheless, the contestants managed to roll the cheese 150 meters before the wheel came to a stop.  The question is...when the contest ended, who ate the cheese?