Cheese · DOP · Rías Baixas
Also labelled Queixo da nabiza
A hard, pressed cow's milk cheese from Same DOP area as Arzúa-Ulloa: the Ulla valley in A Coruña, Lugo and Pontevedra provinces.
The aged type of the Arzúa-Ulloa DOP (a Denominación de Origen since 1995, on the EU register since 2010), matured for at least six months instead of days. It is a lenticular or cylindrical wheel, 12 to 20 cm across and 3 to 10 cm high, 0.5 to 2 kg, and the top face may be slightly concave. The rind is not distinct from the paste, a glossy, greasy, very intense yellow. The paste is deep yellow, very compact, with few eyes. Spanish Wikipedia gives its traditional Galician names as queixo da nabiza, queixo do tempo dos nabos and queixo do ano.
Made in: Same DOP area as Arzúa-Ulloa: the Ulla valley in A Coruña, Lugo and Pontevedra provinces
Salty, low in acidity, with medium to low bitterness and mostly butter flavour with light vanilla and nut notes, according to the register text; Spanish Wikipedia adds a strong aroma of slightly rancid butter.
Rind: natural crust
Wine and cheese
The aged cheese is salty and mostly buttery, with light vanilla and nut notes in a compact paste. Albariño left two years or more on its lees gains honeyed citrus, full body and a long saline finish, enough weight to stand beside it.
Albariño fermented or aged in French oak gains body and an oak-rounded texture that meets the aged cheese's butter, light vanilla and nut notes, while the grape's high acidity cuts through its salt.
The grapes behind these winesAlbariño
Arzúa's cheese fair, a Festa de Interese Turístico de Galicia built around Arzúa-Ulloa, with a producers' fair, workshops, a tapas contest and concerts. Arzúa is in A Coruña province, outside the Rías Baixas wine area, in Arzúa-Ulloa's home country.
Fair devoted to requeixo and honey in As Neves, in the Condado do Tea subzone inside the Rías Baixas wine area. It has run since 1991 and was declared a Festa de Interese Turístico de Galicia in 2013; the Condado-Paradanta cooperative organises it.
Vilalba's cheese fair for the DOP San Simón da Costa, with showcooking, cheese tastings paired with sake, cava and Ribeiro wines, a children's cooking workshop and evening concerts. Vilalba is in the Terra Chá in the north of Lugo province, outside the Rías Baixas wine area.
A visit to the Anzuxao dairy beside a pazo in the Deza, inland in Pontevedra province and outside the Rías Baixas wine area: a walk round the grounds, an audiovisual on cheesemaking and a tasting of Galician cheeses, with a view of production through a glass wall when the visit coincides with cheesemaking. Groups book ahead.
Santiago's public market, in A Coruña province, north of Pontevedra and outside the Rías Baixas wine area. Its cheese stalls include Máis que Queixos, Chacinería Seco (Galician and imported cheeses) and Chacinería Hernández (national and imported cheeses).
It is matured at least six months and has a compact, deep yellow paste and a buttery, salty flavour, while the standard cheese needs only six days and is soft and mild.
Spanish Wikipedia gives it as a traditional Galician name of the aged cheese, along with queixo do tempo dos nabos and queixo do ano.
Same cheeseboard
Plan the trip
Tastings and tours where it is made, and somewhere to stay.
Rías Baixas Albariño Experience: Winery Visit & Cheese
All 317 experiences in Rías BaixasBooking links go to our partners (GetYourGuide, Viator, Zen Hotels), who may pay us a commission. It never decides what we cover. Editorial standards.
Sources: protection register, queseros.com, es.wikipedia.org. The drawing is made from the cheese's recorded shape, rind and paste, not a photograph.
