Prosciutto Toscano PDO

Prosciutto Toscano PDO is made from a short list of ingredients, starting with pork from pigs born and raised in Italy. The Tuscan cure has a precise, unmistakable fragrance, a combination of aromas where black pepper and fresh garlic stand out first.

At Cusona, in the countryside of San Gimignano, we cure it this way, drawing on a tradition built over more than a hundred years. The leg is fresh. The salt is sea salt. Time does the rest, with an ageing period we never shorten: fourteen, sixteen, or twenty months of slow maturation.

“We never tried to make a prosciutto that would please everyone. We made Tuscan prosciutto, and that was enough.”
Alvaro Viani, founder

Fourteen months. Or sixteen. Or twenty.

Aging: Viani Prosciutto Toscano PDO

Viani Prosciutto Toscano PDO does not come in a single version. It comes in three ageing times, 14, 16 and 20 months, because time is not a cost to cut but it’s the method. The PDO specification sets the minimum at twelve months. We start at fourteen, because that is who we are.

14
months

Softer, better suited to everyday eating. The cure is present but leaves room for the natural sweetness of the meat.

16
months

The point of balance. Savoury depth without excess. The most versatile option in the kitchen and on the table.

20
months

Drier, bolder, more character. For those who know how to wait, and can tell the difference.

The cure follows Tuscan tradition: sea salt, whole black peppercorns, garlic, natural aromas only. No preservatives: no nitrites, no nitrates, as required by the production specification. The meat comes from pigs born and raised in Italy, at least nine months old, with a live weight between 144 and 176 kg. That is not a label detail; it is the starting point. Only once ageing is complete, in the presence of an official from the certification body, hams that pass inspection are fire-branded with the outline of the Tuscany region.
The whole bone-in ham, the classic prosciutto in its purest form, keeps in a cool, dry place, the way it always has, because ageing does not stop when the ham leaves the plant: it continues at the counter, in the cellar, right down to the last slice.

The Viani Prosciutto Toscano PDO range

How you prefer it: whole, boneless, or in quarters

Viani Prosciutto Toscano PDO comes in every format built for real use, from the deli counter to the professional kitchen. The cure defines the flavour. The format defines how it reaches the table.

Whole,
bone-in

WEIGHT
~10 kg

Boneless addobbo-style

WEIGHT
~7,5 kg

Boneless, pressed

WEIGHT
~7,5 kg

Quarters

WEIGHT
~1,75 kg

Pre-sliced

WEIGHT
Various formats

All formats: Italian pork, gluten-free, no preservatives added.
Looking for something different? Explore the full Viani range of Italian dry-cured hams, from boneless legs to truffle-infused pelatello.

What makes Prosciutto Toscano PDO different from Parma or San Daniele

The answer lies in the recipe and the method. The great northern Italian hams rely almost entirely on salt. Prosciutto Toscano PDO uses a dry aromatic cure: sea salt, black pepper, garlic. This blend, set out in the Prosciutto Toscano PDO production specification and certified by an independent control body, changes the product.
The slice is a vivid red, the flavour is more intense, with an aromatic persistence that gives it a distinct character rather than letting it fade into the background.

On the nose, the sensory profile is the most recognisable of any Italian PDO ham: the spicing does not disappear with ageing; it settles in, softens, but stays. On the palate it is bold but never harsh. Twenty months is not simply “more aged” than fourteen: it is a different conversation altogether.

This tradition dates back at least to the 15th century, under Medici rule, when the rules for curing pork were already being set down in writing. The process for recognising Prosciutto Toscano as a PDO began in the late 1980s, to protect the identity of Tuscan pig farming, and Viani joined from the very start. Recognition came in 1996, and protected production began in September 1997, not out of obligation, but because it made sense to defend something worth defending.

Viani, a Prosciutto Toscano PDO producer

Since 1922, same family. Same territory.

Sollecito Viani opened the first butcher shop in Certaldo more than a century ago. Alvaro’s entrepreneurial drive shaped it over time. Since then, the family has not changed territory, has not changed methods, and has not changed the cure: they refined them. We added technology where it mattered, but Tuscan prosciutto is still aged the same way, in the same air, with the same ingredients. Same family, four generations. Same territory.

"Alvaro taught his son Fabio that the leg has to be touched, not just weighed. That ageing is felt in the air of the room, not just tracked on a calendar."

Source it. Serve it.

Try our sliced PDO+PGI Tris tray with Finocchiona PGI and Salame Toscano, or on its own in a 100 g tray that disappears before the bread goes cold.

Let’s work together.

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