El esparto manchego artesano (PDO)

Tasting Notes.

Manchego is the most well-known of all Spanish artisan cheeses and its origins lie in the arid but fertile plateau of La Mancha - derived from the Arab word al -mansha meaning dry land.

These days most examples of Manchego are produced on a large industrial scale using milk collected from across the defined PDO region, which makes this farmstead 'artesano' cheese a rare exception. Taking its name from the plaited esparto grass belts traditionally used to girdle the young curds as they drained under a stone weight between two planks of wood, the natural brown rind contains no artificial colours or mould inhibitors.

El Esparto Manchego is aged for between 6-9 months until the ivory-coloured interior develops a distinctive sweet moist nutty finish with just a hint of the grasses and wild shrubs that grow on the plains surrounding the farm.