Queso Payoyo S.L.
Villaluenga del Rosario dairy founded in 1996 making goat, sheep and blended cheeses; its factory shop sells its cheeses and cheese creams plus hams, cured meats and honey from the area.
About Queso de cabra payoya
The goat cheese of the Sierra de Cádiz, made from the milk of the Payoya (or Montejaqueña) goat, a breed native to the Sierra de Grazalema and Serranía de Ronda. Dairies in Villaluenga del Rosario, Grazalema, Ubrique, Villamartín and Alcalá de los Gazules sell it fresh, semicured and cured. Cured cheeses are often finished in Iberian lard (Payoyo, La Pastora de Grazalema, El Gazul) or in olive oil (El Gazul). It has no protected name. Payoyo's own site says Payoyo is not a type of cheese and is not made with the milk of a particular breed, but a patented, legally recognised trademark. Spanish Wikipedia says a DOP for goat cheese of the Sierra de Jerez and Serranía de Ronda was in process.
Made in: Sierra de Cádiz, from Villaluenga del Rosario and Grazalema to Ubrique, Villamartín and Alcalá de los Gazules; the Payoya goat's home range is the Sierra de Grazalema and the Serranía de Ronda
On the plate
Payoyo describes its semicured goat cheese as very creamy, nutty, slightly acid and savoury, and its cured one as dark straw, smooth on the palate with an intense goat flavour. Quesería El Gazul calls its goat cheese creamy and balanced, firm but flexible when cut, with fresh herbal notes and clean milky tones.
Rind: natural crust
Wine and cheese
What to pour with Queso de cabra payoya
Amontillado Jerez & Sherry
Our pickPayoyo describes its semicured goat cheese as very creamy, nutty, slightly acid and savoury. A dry Amontillado, aged first under flor and then in contact with air, has the depth to meet it, and sherry.wine names semi-cured cheeses for Amontillado.
Oloroso Jerez & Sherry
Our pickPayoyo describes its cured goat cheese as dark straw and smooth, with an intense goat flavour. A dry Oloroso, aged entirely in contact with air, has the depth to match it, and sherry.wine calls Oloroso the perfect match for well cured cheeses.
Manzanilla Jerez & Sherry
Our pickQuesería El Gazul calls its goat cheese creamy and balanced, with fresh herbal notes and clean milky tones. A Manzanilla, bone dry and aged under flor in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, meets that freshness with its own. Serve it very chilled.
Moscatel, sweet Jerez & Sherry
Our pickPayoyo describes its cured goat cheese as dark straw and smooth, with an intense goat flavour. A sweet Moscatel sherry, aged oxidatively in American oak, answers that intensity with sweetness, while the cheese's salt keeps the sugar in check.
Pedro Ximénez Jerez & Sherry
Our pickPayoyo calls its lard-wrapped goat cheese very piquant yet tender. A naturally sweet Pedro Ximénez, aged oxidatively in oak, sets its sweetness against that salt and sharpness. sherry.wine names intense blue cheeses for PX rather than goat cheese.
The grapes behind these winesPalomino FinoPedro XiménezMoscatel de Alejandría
From the source
Where to buy and taste it
Quesería El Gazul
Alcalá de los Gazules dairy using milk from Payoya goats raised free-range in Los Alcornocales park, sold as El Gazul and an organic Montes de Alcalá line; guided visit and tasting.
Quesos La Pastora de Grazalema
Cooperative (S.C.A.) on Calle de los Ángeles making Payoya goat, Merina sheep and mixed cheeses from pasteurised milk, including versions coated in Iberian lard or in olive oil and wheat bran.
Quesos La Covacha
Villaluenga del Rosario dairy making fresh, semicured and cured goat cheese from 100 percent Payoya goat milk; the European Cheese Route lists it among visitable dairies.
Quesos Pajarete
Villamartín dairy making pasteurised Payoya goat and Assaf sheep cheeses. Its semicured goat cheese, firm and moderately acid with an olive-oil-rubbed rind, lists a 2025 World Cheese Awards Super Gold.
Quesos Sierra de Ubrique
Ubrique dairy, Quesos Ubrique S.L. on its own site and Quesos Sierra de Ubrique elsewhere, selling Payoya goat cheese direct; third for semicured goat cheese at the 2024 Concurso de Quesos de Andalucía.
Quesos El Saltillo
Quesería on Calle Doctor Vázquez Gutiérrez in Villaluenga del Rosario, listed in the village shopping directory and named by Spanish Wikipedia among Sierra de Cádiz queserías using Payoya milk.
Payoyo Rural (Finca Las Hazuelas)
Payoyo's shop and tasting room at Finca Las Hazuelas on the Grazalema-Ronda road, with summer and winter hours posted. Guided visits there are suspended until further notice per Payoyo's visits page.
Quesería La Abuela Agustina
Quesería on Grazalema's Plaza Pequeña, open weekdays and Saturday mornings and closed Sundays; first prize for semicured goat cheese at the 2024 Andalusian cheese contest (XV Concurso de Quesos de Andalucía).
Cheese experiences nearby
Feria del Queso Artesanal de Andalucía, Villaluenga del Rosario
Andalusian artisan cheese fair in Villaluenga del Rosario, which its town hall calls the cradle of cheese: free tastings, cheese-making workshops, a producers' market and a cheese contest.
Quesería El Gazul guided visit
Guided visit of a Payoya goat dairy in Alcalá de los Gazules: how its cheeses are made, the facilities, then a tasting of its cheeses with one drink. Book by phone, WhatsApp or email.
Queso de cabra payoya: questions
Is Queso Payoyo a protected cheese?
No. Payoyo's own site says Payoyo is not a type of cheese and is not made with the milk of a particular breed, but a patented, legally recognised trademark of Queso Payoyo S.L., founded in 1996; it adds that the payoya-montejaqueña goat breed was catalogued after the brand was registered. We found no registered DOP or IGP; Spanish Wikipedia describes a DOP for the goat cheese of the Sierra de Jerez and Serranía de Ronda as in process.
How big is a whole payoya goat cheese?
Payoyo sells whole cheeses in a 2 kg format and La Pastora de Grazalema sells them at about 450 g, 900 g and 1.9 kg. Neither page gives a diameter.
How long is it aged?
Payoyo gives a minimum of 35 days for its semicured goat cheese and 105 days for its cured one; La Pastora gives 40 to 60 days for semicured and 4 to 8 months for cured.
What are the lard and olive oil versions?
Payoyo cures its goat cheese at least 105 days, rubs it with lard from local Iberian pigs and rests it 90 more days in the cellar. La Pastora coats its cured goat cheese in a layer of Iberian pork lard; its label lists the lard at 5.5 percent. El Gazul sells goat cheese in extra virgin olive oil, which it says makes the paste firmer and drier with fruity notes.
Same cheeseboard
More cheeses from Jerez & Sherry
Plan the trip
Visit Queso de cabra payoya country
Tastings and tours where it is made, and somewhere to stay.
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Sources: www.payoyo.com, es.wikipedia.org. The drawing is made from the cheese's recorded shape, rind and paste, not a photograph.