Mercado Municipal 1º de Maio
Évora's municipal market, in the building in the middle of Praça 1º de Maio, sells cheeses among other fresh food, according to Wikivoyage. Which stalls sell cheese, and which cheeses, is not documented.
About Queijo Serpa Velho
The name given to Queijo Serpa DOP when it is ripened for more than 180 days, a threshold in the 2024 specification. The Serpa name was first protected by Decreto Regulamentar 39/87 of 29 June 1987 and registered by the EU in 1996. It is made from the cunca, normal and giant sizes of Serpa and keeps the size of the cheese it started as, so the specification gives no fixed dimensions; the shape stays a low cylinder, with a flat or slightly concave top. The thin, slightly rough rind runs from straw to dark straw, turns hard to extra-hard and may be coated with colourless paraffin; the paste turns semi-hard to hard, dry and slightly brittle, with the colour spreading from the edge inwards.
Made in: The Queijo Serpa DOP area: twelve Baixo Alentejo municipalities including Serpa, Beja, Moura and Vidigueira, plus some parishes of Odemira, Santiago do Cacém, Grândola and Alcácer do Sal
On the plate
Intense, clean and lingering, and it can be slightly picante. The paste is semi-hard to hard, slightly brittle and dry, light to dark straw yellow (specification).
Rind: natural crust
Wine and cheese
What to pour with Queijo Serpa Velho
Alicante Bouschet red Alentejo
Our pickPast 180 days Serpa Velho is hard, dry and slightly brittle, with an intense, lingering flavour. A full-bodied, deeply coloured red led by Alicante Bouschet has the weight to meet it, and the aged ewe's milk fat rounds the wine's tannin.
Full-bodied Touriga Nacional or Syrah red Alentejo
Our pickPast 180 days Serpa Velho is hard, dry and intense, with a long finish. A full-bodied red led by Touriga Nacional or Syrah, firm in tannin and aged in French oak, has the weight to stand beside it, and the aged fat softens the grip.
Full-bodied, oak-aged Aragonez-led red Alentejo
Our pickPast 180 days Serpa Velho is hard, dry and slightly brittle, intense and lingering. A full-bodied red led by Aragonez, firm in tannin after oak ageing, has the weight to match it, and the fat of the aged ewe's milk softens the grip.
Barrel-fermented or part-oaked dry white Alentejo
Our pickPast 180 days Serpa Velho is hard, dry and intense, with a lingering flavour. A dry white fermented or aged wholly or partly in oak has the extra texture to stand beside it, and its acidity cuts the fat of the aged ewe's milk.
The grapes behind these winesTouriga NacionalAragonezAlicante BouschetAntão VazSyrahViognier
From the source
Where to buy and taste it
Cheese experiences nearby
Feira do Queijo do Alentejo
Serpa's annual cheese fair, with Queijo Serpa DOP as its anchor product. Cheesemakers from the area, Portugal and abroad attend, alongside food stalls, crafts, a sheep show, live shearing and cheese-making demonstrations, a cheese contest and a cheese week in the municipality's restaurants.
Estremoz Saturday market
Estremoz's traditional Saturday-morning market on the Rossio, where farmers sell direct; the municipality lists cheeses among the goods. Wikivoyage describes about five adjacent stalls selling ewe and goat milk cheeses.
Feira do Queijo de Tolosa
Village cheese fair in Tolosa, in Nisa municipality, run by the parish council with municipal support. The 25th edition, held in May 2026 (reported on 18 May), was a one-day event with a contest for wines made in the parish, a community lunch with music and roast pork on the spit.
Almocreva dairy visit
A visit to the Almocreva dairy in Penedo Gordo, where cured sheep's milk cheese in the Serpa style is made. The website invites visitors to book through its contact page; length and price are not stated.
Queijo Serpa Velho: questions
What makes a Serpa a Serpa Velho?
Age: the specification reserves the name Queijo Serpa Velho for cheese ripened for more than 180 days, against a minimum of 30 days for Queijo Serpa.
Can the rind be eaten?
Not always. The specification lets the Velho's rind be coated with colourless paraffin, and allows a surface coating containing a preservative if the producers' group approves it; in that case the label must say that the rind is not edible.
Same cheeseboard
More cheeses from Alentejo
Plan the trip
Visit Queijo Serpa Velho country
Tastings and tours where it is made, and somewhere to stay.
Booking 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, queijoserpadop.pt. The drawing is made from the cheese's recorded shape, rind and paste, not a photograph.