Pyrenean sheep's milk aged twelve months: toasted hazelnut, brown butter, and quiet salinity.
Ossau-Iraty AOP from Agour in the French Basque Pyrenees. Pure sheep's milk, aged 12 months, firm paste with hazelnut and brown butter notes.
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Made by Agour in Hélette, deep in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques on the French Basque side of the Pyrenees, this is Ossau-Iraty AOP aged a minimum of twelve months. Pure sheep's milk, pressed and uncooked, with an amber natural rind speckled with cave mold that signals proper cave time.
The paste is firm and a touch waxy with a fine, dense break under the knife. Twelve months in the cave pulls the moisture down and concentrates the sweet sheep cream into something rounder, with toasted hazelnut and brown butter through the middle. There is a quiet salinity that stretches the finish, and the mouthfeel coats the palate without ever going dry.
Ossau-Iraty has been made in these Pyrenean high pastures for centuries, and the AOP safeguards the quality, authenticity, and "terroir" of the cheese. At twelve months, this Agour wheel sits right in the sweet spot for the style.
Semi-hard and pressed, with a fine, dense break under the knife. The paste is firm and a touch waxy, coating the palate without going dry.
Moderate. Twelve months pulls the sweet sheep cream into something rounder and more concentrated, with brown butter and toasted hazelnut through the middle, but it stays approachable.
Lingers comfortably. The salinity stretches across the palate with a slow brown-butter pull, present long enough to ask for a second bite.
A gentle sheep-milk lactic note runs underneath everything, more buttery cream than yogurty tang at this age.
Toasted hazelnut and brown butter through the middle. This is the dominant flavor at twelve months.
A quiet vegetal note from the natural amber rind, but the paste itself stays clean and concentrated rather than barnyardy.
Not spicy. Salinity is present, but the cheese carries no peppery or piquant heat.
Natural rind
The amber natural rind carries a quiet mushroomy note from cave time and a faint vegetal lift, but the paste is where the flavor lives.
Ossau-Iraty stands on its own, but the right partners turn a wedge into a moment. Regional pairings first — they were built for each other.
The local Basque red Irouléguy and the sweet white Jurançon both come from the same hillsides and harmonize with the sheep cream. A drier sparkling lifts the salinity on the finish.
Basque tradition pairs aged sheep with black cherry jam from the same villages. The sweet fruit lifts the salinity and the cream of the paste.
Video represents style and type of cheese - may not be an exact match in all cases.
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“A Basque shepherds' cooperative built to keep Manech-ewe milk in local hands, aging Ossau-Iraty AOP well past the minimum to chase nuttier, deeper paste.”
Uncooked pressed sheep's milk wheels from Manech ewes, hand-salted and aged on wood in the Hélette cellars for a full 12 months.
Hand-cut to order the day it ships. Packed cold for overnight delivery.
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