The local cheeses of Jerez & Sherry with the local wines that suit them, and why they work.
The cheeses of Jerez & Sherry with the wines made beside them. Pairings marked as a local tradition are the ones a regional source names; the rest are our own picks, and say so.
Payoyo 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.
Bottles to try:
Payoyo 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.
Bottles to try:
Payoyo 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.
Bottles to try:
Payoyo 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.
Bottles to try:
Payoyo 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.
Bottles to try:
La 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.
Bottles to try:
Quesería 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.
Bottles to try:
Payoyo 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.
Bottles to try:
Payoyo 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.
Bottles to try:
Payoyo 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.
Bottles to try:
Upgrade your experience by combining a historic center city tour with a visit to one of the most famous wineries in Jerez. Taste three excellent wines at the winery.
PAIRING MENU TO SAVOR THE BEST PRODUCTS OF THE LAND AND OUR EXCLUSIVE SHERRY WINES
A guided tour of an 1850's winery, the tour includes an audio-visual, history of sherry wine and winemaking. Also wine tasting an exhibition with historical labels
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
