Cheese tastings, cave tours, markets and cheese routes in Alentejo.
A guide to cheese experiences in 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.
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.
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.
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.
This tour is about two very important products for the Alentejo region: wine and cork. Come and discover the process from cork harvesting to the final bottle of wine. ...
Taste award-winning wines, learn from local winemakers, and immerse yourself in the authentic Portuguese wine tradition. Includes a visit to the winery and a tasting o...
Discover Alentejo’s timeless charm with a visit to UNESCO-listed Évora, medieval Monsaraz, a local wine tasting, and breathtaking views from Cristo Rei overlooking Lis...
Raw ewe's milk only, set with an infusion of cardoon flower (Cynara cardunculus) rather than animal rennet, plus salt. The APS, the producers' association, lists exactly three ingredients: raw sheep's milk, salt and the cardoon infusion.
At least 30 days under the specification. When ripening passes 180 days the cheese becomes Queijo Serpa Velho, which is hard, dry and stronger.
Two, both from the DGADR page: the curd is cut with only four movements, based on religious beliefs, and the cloth used to filter the milk is folded exactly 40 times. English Wikipedia repeats the 40-fold detail.
The specification describes the paste as buttery with a cut face that deforms easily and may spill. Cold storage firms it, and Queijaria Guilherme advises taking it out of the fridge an hour before eating.
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.
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.
The DGADR page says the milk comes from the regional Merina Branca breed, raw and unpasteurised.
The DGADR gives three formats: a small hard cheese of 6 to 8 cm and 60 to 90 g, a hard merendeira of 12 to 14 cm and 120 to 200 g, and a semi-hard merendeira of 13 to 15 cm and 200 to 300 g.