An ideal microclimate for the aging of Prosciutto di San Daniele.
In the heart of Friuli Venenzia Giulia
The unique features of Prosciutto di San Daniele are due to the peculiar geographical environment where this excellence of Made in Italy has its origin. Prosciutto di San Daniele can actually be produced only by the 31 firms that are members of the Consorteum and exclusively in San Daniele del Friuli: a town in the province of Udine that measures about 35 square kilometers and has little more than 8000 inhabitants.
San Daniele is perched on a hill in the heart of Friuli Venezia Giulia, in the so called “Morenic Amphitheater”. It is located on the first heights of the Pre-Alps, 252 meters above sea level.
Here cold winds that come down from the Carnian Alps and the warm and salty breeze from the Adriatic sea come together. The course of the river Tagliamento flows by the hill and acts as a natural temperature controller. It is an ideal microclimate for the aging, which allows us to preserve the meat only thanks to sea salt without the use of any additive.
Mountain winds with resinous hints, salty sea breeze, the right level of humidity: these are the ingredients, or better, the climate that makes San Daniele the perfect place to give birth to the delicate prosciutto for which everyone envies us.
Without the land and the nature in which it is born, Prosciutto di San Daniele wouldn’t have that unmistakable sweetness that has made it a real Italian excellence worldwide.
Visits and guided tastings to the Prosciutto factories in San Daniele
If you come by, make sure to visit a Prosciutto factory and to take part in a guided tasting, during which you can learn all the secrets to cut, taste and keep at best the Dop Prosciutto di San Daniele. The best moment is, without any doubt, during “Aria di Festa”, the historical event dedicated to Prosciutto di San Daniele, that enlivens every year the small town in the province of Udine in late June.
Not only Prosciutto di San Daniele
San Daniele del Friuli is also a city rich in historical and artistic beauties. The elegance of its historical center invites you to have a walk among the many testimonies that have come down to us.
These are well documented from the valuable collection of the Biblioteca Guarneriana, the most ancient library in Friuli Venezia Giulia and one of the first public reading institutions in Italy.
The Duomo, built in the fourteenth century and dedicated to Saint Michael Archangel, is flanked by a massive and unfinished sixteen-century bell tower. It was devised by a disciple of Raffaello’s, Giovanni da Udine. For sure one of the symbols of the city is the Portonat, the door in the direction of Gemona, designed in 1579 by Andrea Palladio. Strolling along the streets of the pretty town, you run into the church of Sant’Antonio Abate, called “Friuli’s Sistina Chapel” for the beauty of its pictorial cycles.