When You’re Choosing Parmigiano Reggiano, Is Older Always Better?

How much of a difference does an extra year or two make when you’re buying a high-quality aged cheese?

There are just a few simple ingredients in a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano—milk, natural ferment, salt—but the most important of these might just be time. It’s time that turns sweet, fresh cow’s milk into the dense, crystalline shards that we love to eat on their own and grate into our pastas. While the process of cooking and shaping a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano takes just a few days, it doesn’t become the authentic, DOP-certified cheese until you add at least 12 months of waiting. But when you’re choosing a piece of Parmigiano Reggiano at the store, is older always better?

Most of the Parmigiano Reggiano you’ll find on the market here in the U.S. is aged for either 24 or 36 months. You may occasionally see some aged up to 40 or 50 months, and in Italy, you can find prized wheels that are aged up to 80 months (that’s more than six years!). But that’s not as old as it gets; a very few brave cheesemakers push the envelope, aging wheels for as long as 12 years! (The oldest Parmigiano Reggiano ever sold was a 21-year-old wheel that was auctioned for charity in 2021.)

50-month aged Parmigano Reggiano | Photo credit: Elizabeth Newman

If you’re an umami fanatic or love other bold, concentrated flavors like those in aged whiskey or wine, you should jump at the chance to taste a Parmigiano Reggiano that’s been aged longer than 36 months. “The cheese becomes more intense in taste, more toasted, smoky and spicy, with animal notes such as leather, notes of undergrowth, and truffle,” says Simone Ficarelli, a Parmigiano Reggiano ambassador and master cheese cutter and taster. That said, the official Parmigiano Reggiano guidelines state that the cheese is in its optimal form when aged just 24-40 months. The longer you let it age, the more likely it is that the cheese will become unbalanced and, ultimately, less tasty. It takes “skill and care,” says Simone, to take a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano to the aging extreme.

And if you’re planning on cooking with it, either to make a cheese-forward pasta like cacio e pepe or Triple Parmigiano Reggiano Pasta or as a flavor booster like in Giada’s staff favorite Tuscan Turkey Soup, you should always stick with the 24 or 36-month-aged wedges you can find at most good grocery stores or cheese shops. “The strong and intense character of a very mature wheel should not be used in the kitchen,” says Simone, “because these notes would risk becoming too extreme in contact with hot dishes.” Better to nibble on these older cheeses on their own accompanied by a sweet passito wine like vin santo, or, in the case of Parmigiano Reggianos aged more than 5 years, a smooth scotch whiskey.

But how does a cheesemaker decide just how long to let their cheese mature? It turns out the aging plan is pretty much set from day 1. When the fresh raw milk arrives at the dairy, the cheesemaker assesses how much fat and casein (the protein that makes the cheese take shape) is in it. Higher levels of these will support a longer aging process; if the milk is right and the cheesemaker is ready to take it to the limit, they’ll mark the wheels made that day for longer aging. 

All Parmigiano Reggiano wheels are inspected regularly as they age, a process that seems almost magical. “The expert (whom we call the ‘beater’) strikes the wheel with a special hammer and perceives its sound and vibrations,” says Simone. “If the sound is uniform, it means that we have no holes or tears inside the shape,” meaning the cheese is forming nicely. The beater trains for decades to be able to perfectly judge a cheese’s quality simply by sight, sound, and feel—and only the wheels that pass their test can be sold as genuine Parmigiano Reggiano.

So the next time you’re shopping for Parmigiano Reggiano, know that a 24-month-old wedge has the quintessential flavor profile to use in your cooking, and don’t worry about hunting around for the oldest cheese you can find. But if you’re ever offered the opportunity to taste an older Parmigiano Reggiano, grab it! There’s no cheese like it in the world.