Monte Enebro: the goat cheese that changes your life
One bite and you know: this is no ordinary cheese. Monte Enebro is intense, elegant, fresh and also creamy, earthy and unforgettable. A blue-veined goat cheese from Spain that is made in only one place in the world, by just one family business. And yes, there’s a wonderful story behind it.
Cheese legend Rafael Báez
Giving everything up at sixty to make cheese? The late Rafael Báez did just that. After years, he said goodbye to his technical career to become a cheesemaker. His dream: to make the traditional pata de mulo cheese (a flat block with rounded sides), but not with the usual sheep’s milk—instead, with goat’s milk. He enrolled in agricultural school, but decided to take matters into his own hands: two years later, he started his own cheese dairy in the Tiétar Valley, northwest of Madrid.
And successfully so: Monte Enebro has since won countless awards, including gold several times at the World Cheese Awards.
The secret? Penicillium roqueforti
Rafael’s daughter Paloma Báez worked side by side with her father for years and now runs Queserías del Tiétar with just as much passion. In the small factory, she makes Monte Enebro according to just one rule: use only the very best goat’s milk.
It takes no less than six liters of milk to make one kilo of cheese. The milk is pasteurized and slowly curdled, after which the curds are carefully pressed into molds. And then comes the secret: the cheeses are rubbed with penicillium roqueforti, the same mold used in Roquefort. But instead of being inside the cheese, the mold is on the rind. Rare stuff, people.
The magic is in the rind
The cheeses mature for twenty days and develop a thin, blue-gray mold rind that gives the cheese its characteristic flavor and texture. Earthy, creamy, slightly mushroomy and yet fresh. This is not a block of supermarket cheese. Not filler for a cheese board—it’s the star of the show. This is the kind of cheese you sit down for.
What does Monte Enebro taste like?
Like a flavor bomb full of woody notes, herbs and a hint of hazelnut, with a fresh undertone you rarely find in blue-veined cheeses. A cheese with punch, but also finesse. Perfect with a glass of Verdejo. The editorial favorite is a Verdejo from Bodega Très Pilares. A delicious wine that beautifully balances the freshness and creaminess of the cheese.
Delicious with Verdejo!
As is often the case with iconic products, Monte Enebro is frequently copied. But don’t be fooled: there is only one real Monte Enebro, from Queserías del Tiétar. And fortunately, you can find it at one of the Gastrovino stores throughout the Netherlands.
So: want to convince someone of the magic of goat cheese? Serve them a piece of Monte Enebro!
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