This is the aged variety of Asiago, the trademark Italian cheese which has become so well known in recent years that even frozen pizzas are boasting it on their 4-cheese selections. Pro tip: that asiago is about as closely related to real Asiago as Gordon Brown is to Charlie Brown.
Asiago is perfect as an Italian table cheese, and here in its semi-aged state one can see just how important the affinage process is.
Milk: Cow, unpasteurized
Rennet: Animal
Affinage: 5 months
Notes: A couple of things here. First of all let us address the name, where Aisago is self explanatory, D'Allevo distinguishes it as the more traditional and cooked curd variety of Asiago, and Mezzano distinguishes it further as the medium-aged variety of D'Allevo Asiagos. The important words here are Fresco, Mezzano, and Vecchio, covering the range from youngest at 2ish months to oldest at over a year respectively. Also that it's a cooked curd cheese, meaning the transition from milk to cheese involved the heating of the curd more than otherwise necessary in order to force it to release more whey.
Thoughts: The flavor is spot on, but sadly something else is amiss. The deep, rich creaminess and the sweet, nutty notes that make Asiago so good both for folks just starting to branch out from cheddar and also as a reliable table cheese carries Asiago D'Allevo Mezzano pretty far but is cut short by a failure of the texture. Somehow the texture falls between the chewy, crumbly goodness of aged Goudas or Cheddars and the soft give of a Pecorino Fresco. Even similarly aged cheeses from Spain, such as some varieties of Manchego, pull off the flavor/texture combination better, whereas here I was left hoping either for a sharper flavor and more of a fight or simply a moister paste. By all means try this cheese if you come across it but also be on the lookout for its differently aged brother and sister (my lawyer has advised me against assigning genders to cheese so I'll let you do it instead).
Caution
Making your own real-deal "quattro formaggio" pizza could get expensive if you're holding out for the true imported stuff. So deliciously expensive.
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