Travel Guide
Montefrío cheese
Montefrío is famous for its view and its cured pork — but ask anyone who knows Spanish cheese and they'll tell you the village hides a quieter treasure. The goat cheese made here has been judged among the best in the world, and it comes from a breed of goat that has grazed these hills for centuries. If you are staying at Cortijo Bujio, one of the finest souvenirs you can take home is sitting in a shop fifteen minutes away.
The cheese to look for is Queso Montefrieño, made in the village itself. It has won gold at the World Cheese Awards — the largest and most important cheese competition on earth. To put that in perspective: a recent edition judged more than 4,000 cheeses from 48 countries, assessed by around 230 judges from 30 nations, from giant dairies to tiny artisan makers. Montefrío's cured goat cheese took gold in the cured-goat category — a genuine world championship for a village of a few thousand people.
That is the kind of detail that turns a wedge of cheese into a story worth telling at your own table back home.
Great cheese begins with great milk, and Montefrío's milk comes from a special animal: the Murciano-Granadina, an autochthonous Spanish goat breed native to this corner of Andalusia and prized as one of the best dairy goats in the world. The breed thrives on the wild, aromatic scrub of the Montes Occidentales — the western hills around Montefrío — and that diet of herbs and mountain plants is what gives the milk, and the cheese, its depth and character. Local herders supply the milk; the cheese is made close to where the goats graze.
Like all good cheeses, Montefrío's is really several cheeses, depending on how long it is aged:
Serve it simply, and let the cheese talk. A board of Montefrío goat cheese with good bread, a drizzle of local olive oil, a few olives, some quince paste or honey, and a glass of wine is a perfect villa lunch or evening on the terrace. The fresh and semi-cured cheeses are wonderful in salads; the cured cheese stands on its own, or with membrillo. Pair the whole thing with the village's cured lomo (pork loin) and you have an entirely local spread, all sourced within a few minutes of the door.
Because the cheese is made in Montefrío, the best place to buy it is in the village itself — at local shops and delicatessens, and often direct from the maker. Buy a range (a fresh, a cured, and one in olive oil) to taste the difference, and take vacuum-packed pieces home; the cured cheese travels beautifully. Ask us and we'll point you to the current best place to pick it up, along with the local lomo, cheese's natural partner. It is, without exaggeration, a world-champion souvenir.
What cheese is Montefrío famous for? A cured goat cheese, made in the village under the name Queso Montefrieño, which has won gold at the World Cheese Awards — the world's most important cheese competition.
What kind of milk is it made from? Goat's milk from the Murciano-Granadina, an autochthonous Andalusian breed considered one of the finest dairy goats in the world, grazed on the aromatic hills of the Montes Occidentales around Montefrío.
What types can I buy? Fresh (fresco), semi-cured (semicurado), cured (curado) and cured cheese preserved in local olive oil — each with a different texture and depth of flavour.
Where can I buy it near Cortijo Bujio? In Montefrío itself, 15 minutes from the villa, at village shops and delicatessens and often direct from the maker. The cured cheese vacuum-packs well for the journey home.
Cortijo Bujio sits 15 minutes from Montefrío in the heart of the Montes Occidentales. See also our guides to olive oil, fine dining in the region and food & drink around Granada.
Sources: El Independiente de Granada and Granada Digital on Queso Montefrieño's World Cheese Awards medals; Quesandaluz on Queso Montefrieño; Asociación Nacional de Criadores de Caprino de Raza Murciano-Granadina (breed background).