Caprino is a goat’s milk cheese from the Piedmont region of Italy; its name actually comes from the word capra, which means goat. This appellation is similar to how the french use the word chevre [goat] to describe many different types of goat cheese.
There are two different kinds of caprino cheese: caprino fresco and caprino stagionato.
Fresh cheese. Usually eaten on the fourth day after production when the cheese is nice and creamy. Has a bitter sweet, creamy, and slightly citrus taste.
Aged for around 1 month. Because of the aging, the flavor is saltier and more tangy. It also has a thin yellowish rind. Traditionally made with 100% goat’s milk, but nowadays is made with blends of cow’s milk.
I grabbed myself some fresh caprino; and, let me tell you, this cheese is delicious. It’s rich and creamy, and does not have the great tangy taste that you might expect from a goat’s milk cheese. The taste and crumbly wet consistency reminds me of another cheese that I tasted before called Bucheron goat cheese; the key difference being that Caprino is more fresh and has a wetter and smoother consistency than Bucheron.
With most goat cheeses, you’ll find, the taste is enhanced by correct wine pairings. I decided to pair Caprino, with it’s rich and creamy taste, with Cabernet Sauvignon; the wine definitely enhances the richness and creaminess of the cheese. I also chose to eat it with raisin bread because the sweetness of the raisins goes perfectly with goat cheese, but this is just my amateur cheesemonger opinion.