Pienza is a Renaissance town in the province of Siena, created by order of the fourteenth century Pope, Pius II. The production area of this Tuscan sheep’s cheese is that surrounding the ‘Siena clays’, small rounded hills that provide poor pastures, much loved by the sheep. Pienza sheep’s cheese is produced in two different versions. The red, fresh cheese version is semi-ripened and coloured with tomato juice as a protective coating, whereas the ripened version has a black rind. It is not a piquant cheese as is often the case with sheep’s cheeses since calf rather than kid rennet is used to make the cheese (vegetable rennet was frequently historically used in Tuscany ). Pienza Pecorino is the most commonly used in making the Sogliano al Rubicone ‘Trench’ Cheese.