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 Grazalema
The name given to the sheep, goat and mixed-milk cheeses of the Grazalema mountains, made from Merina Grazalemeña sheep and Payoya goat milk, which Grazalema's tourist office names for its cheeses. Spanish Wikipedia lists a Queso de Grazalema, mixed milk with no quality seal, in the national cheese catalogue. It is a regional name without a registered designation. La Pastora de Grazalema and Payoyo sell semicured and cured sheep and goat-and-sheep cheeses of about 2 kg, some coated in lard or in olive oil and wheat bran.
Made in: Sierra de Grazalema, Cádiz province (Grazalema and neighbouring Villaluenga del Rosario)
On the plate
Payoyo describes its semicured sheep cheese as intense yet very soft and creamy, and its cured sheep cheese as straw yellow, with an intense flavour and a texture that melts on the palate. Its semicured goat and sheep blend is very melting, slightly acid, with a hint of hazelnut.
Wine and cheese
What to pour with Queso de Grazalema
Palo Cortado Jerez & Sherry
Our pickPayoyo describes its cured sheep cheese as straw yellow and intense, with a texture that melts on the palate. A dry Palo Cortado, begun under flor and finished oxidatively, has the depth for it, and sherry.wine names nuts and cured cheeses for Palo Cortado.
Amontillado Jerez & Sherry
Our pickPayoyo describes its semicured goat and sheep blend as very melting and slightly acid, with a hint of hazelnut. A dry Amontillado, aged under flor and then in contact with air, meets it with oxidative depth, and sherry.wine names semi-cured cheeses for Amontillado.
Manzanilla Pasada Jerez & Sherry
Our pickPayoyo describes its semicured goat and sheep blend as very melting and slightly acid, with a hint of hazelnut. A Manzanilla Pasada, kept under flor until the flor recedes, gains depth beyond a young Manzanilla while staying dry, enough for that hazelnut.
Fino Jerez & Sherry
Our pickLa Pastora suggests its sheep cheese cured in olive oil and wheat bran as a starter before meals with a good wine of the Cádiz land. A Fino is bone dry and aged under flor, and sherry.wine calls Fino an ideal aperitif wine.
Cream, medium and sweetened sherry Jerez & Sherry
Our pickPayoyo describes its cured sheep cheese as straw yellow and intense, with a texture that melts on the palate. A sweetened sherry, a dry wine blended with sweet wine and aged in oak, plays its sweetness against the cheese's intensity and salt.
The grapes behind these winesPalomino FinoMoscatel de Alejandría
From the source
Where to buy and taste it
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.
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 Grazalema: questions
What milk is Queso de Grazalema made from?
Grazalema's tourist office names Merina Grazalemeña sheep and Payoya goat milk for its cheeses. Spanish Wikipedia's list of Spanish cheeses gives mixed milk for the catalogue entry.
Is Queso de Grazalema protected?
No. Spanish Wikipedia's list of Spanish cheeses, built from the national catalogue, shows it with no quality seal, and we found no DOP or IGP register entry.
How long is it aged?
Payoyo gives a minimum of 35 days for semicured sheep cheese and 105 days for cured sheep cheese; its goat and sheep blend is 75 and 120 days. La Pastora gives 40 to 180 days for its semicured sheep cheese.
Same cheeseboard
More cheeses from Jerez & Sherry
Plan the trip
Visit Queso de Grazalema country
Tastings and tours where it is made, and somewhere to stay.
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Sources: turismo.grazalema.es, es.wikipedia.org. The drawing is made from the cheese's recorded shape, rind and paste, not a photograph.