In the hills of Tuscany, near Pisa, in the village of Acciaiolo, lies the Caseificio Busti. For three generations, the Pecorino family has been making cheese from fresh sheep's milk. Hundreds of wheels are stored in the aging rooms and caves, some young and creamy, others carefully matured for months until they develop their full flavor.
The history of the dairy begins in 1955 with Alessandro Busti and his son Remo, originally shepherds from the upper Garfagnana, a mountainous region in northern Tuscany. There, among chestnut forests and steep slopes, they ran a small sheep farm before settling in the municipality of Fauglia, near Pisa, and founding the dairy. At first, they processed only a few hundred kilograms of milk from the province of Pisa, which young Remo himself collected in a small delivery van with a canvas cover.
After the first years alongside his father, Remo took over the dairy as sole owner. Production grew slowly but remained artisanal, initially processing no more than eight to ten hundred kilograms of milk. Remo’s passion became a model for his son Stefano, who after some years decided to join the business. With this generational change, the operation began to grow. Today, he runs the dairy with his children Marco and Benedetta.
The milk for the cheese comes from selected Tuscan shepherds, especially from Siena, Pienza, and the Val d’Orcia, regions known for their excellent pastures. Milk is also sourced from the province of Grosseto, the Pisa hills, and the Maremma.
The Busti family currently no longer owns their own sheep herds. However, Stefano hopes to rebuild his own flock in the future to have even greater control over milk quality and to connect the old traditions of shepherd life with cheese making.
In the large, bright production rooms of the dairy, sheep’s milk is processed fresh daily. Skilled cheesemakers shape the wheels, which then develop their distinctive flavor in the aging rooms. After a few weeks of aging, the classic Pecorino Toscano DOP reaches its fine character. It is made exclusively from milk that meets the strict requirements of the consortium for Tuscan DOP Pecorino.
During the aging process, the wheel receives special treatment: the rind is rubbed multiple times with olive oil, giving it its characteristic marbled brown color.
