Queijaria Amaral
Cheese shop in Rua de Santo Ildefonso, Porto, trading since 1928 by its own account. Serra da Estrela is its specialty. Its online shop lists an aged Terrincho, marked coming soon in October 2026.
About Queijo de Cabra Transmontano
Made from raw milk of Serrana goats, set with animal rennet. The curd is drained in moulds under weights or a hand press, then salted and cured for at least 60 days with turning and washing. It is a low cylinder, 12 to 19 cm across and 3 to 6 cm high, 0.6 to 0.9 kg, with a smooth white semi-hard rind and an extra-hard white paste. The area covers ten municipalities of Bragança and Vila Real, in a region where the specification says the Douro basin dominates. LEICRAS, the cooperative in Mirandela that manages the name, dates national recognition to 1994 (Despacho 20/94) and EU registration to 1996 (Regulation 1263/96).
Made in: Ten municipalities of Trás-os-Montes: Mirandela, Macedo de Cavaleiros, Alfândega da Fé, Carrazeda de Ansiães, Vila Flor, Torre de Moncorvo, Freixo de Espada à Cinta and Mogadouro (Bragança), Valpaços and Murça (Vila Real)
On the plate
A pleasant, intense aroma and a clean flavour, usually with a slightly piquant tang. The paste is closed, extra-hard and not buttery, white and uniform, with a few small eyes.
Rind: natural crust
Wine and cheese
What to pour with Queijo de Cabra Transmontano
Colheita tawny Port Douro Valley
Our pickA single-harvest tawny matured for years in cask is sweet and concentrated, with dried fruit at its centre. Set against an extra-hard, slightly piquant goat's cheese, that sweetness softens the tang.
Aged white Port Douro Valley
Our pickThe goat's cheese is extra-hard and white, with a clean flavour and a slightly piquant tang. A ten-year white Port is honeyed, nutty and gently oxidative, and that honeyed depth sets off the tang.
30 and 40 Year Old Tawny Port Douro Valley
Our pickThe goat's cheese is extra-hard with a clean flavour and a slight tang. Thirty and forty-year tawnies are intensely concentrated, with dried fruit, spice and aged wood, a deep sweetness that answers the tang.
Racy Douro white Douro Valley
Our pickThe cheese is extra-hard with a clean flavour and a slightly piquant tang. Mineral, saline Douro whites with racy acidity refresh the palate between pieces.
Moscatel do Douro Douro Valley
Our pickThe cheese is extra-hard with a clean flavour and a slight tang. Douro Moscatel is sweet and aromatic, with orange blossom and candied citrus lifted by fresh acidity, a bright counterpoint to the tang.
Full-bodied Douro red, medium tannin Douro Valley
Our pickThe cheese is extra-hard and clean with a slight tang. These dry Douro reds are full-bodied with medium tannin and ripe fruit, rounded enough not to fight a clean cheese.
The grapes behind these winesTouriga NacionalMoscatel Galego BrancoTouriga FrancaMalvasia FinaViosinhoRabigato
From the source
Where to buy and taste it
Queijaria do Bolhão
Cheese stall in the Mercado do Bolhão, Porto, trading for more than 40 years by the market's account. It sells Serra da Estrela, Azeitão and island cheeses, artisanal yoghurt and requeijão.
Queijo de Cabra Transmontano: questions
What is it made from?
Raw milk from Serrana goats, set with animal rennet, according to DGADR, the Portuguese agriculture directorate. Its page names the breed's four ecotypes as Transmontano, Jarmelista, Ribatejano and Serra.
How long is it cured?
At least 60 days at 5 to 18 degrees C and 70 to 85 percent relative humidity, with periodic turning and washing, according to DGADR.
How big is it?
The specification gives 12 to 19 cm across, 3 to 6 cm high and 0.6 to 0.9 kg.
Where is it made?
In ten municipalities of Trás-os-Montes: Mirandela, Macedo de Cavaleiros, Alfândega da Fé, Carrazeda de Ansiães, Vila Flor, Torre de Moncorvo, Freixo de Espada à Cinta and Mogadouro in Bragança, and Valpaços and Murça in Vila Real.
Same cheeseboard
More cheeses from Douro Valley
Plan the trip
Visit Queijo de Cabra Transmontano country
Tastings and tours where it is made, and somewhere to stay.
Douro Valley
Porto: Cálem Cellar Tour, Interactive Museum & Wine Tasting
All 1933 experiences in Douro ValleyBooking 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, tradicional.dgadr.gov.pt, eur-lex.europa.eu. The drawing is made from the cheese's recorded shape, rind and paste, not a photograph.