Manchego aged eight months with rosemary-cured rind and buttery paste.
Spanish sheep's milk cheese from Castilla-La Mancha, rind rubbed with Iberian lard and fresh rosemary, aged 8 months. Herbal, semi-firm, board-ready.
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Romao is a sheep's milk cheese from Castilla-La Mancha in Spain, made in the Manchego tradition and then taken in a direction all its own. After the wheels are shaped and salted, the rinds get rubbed with Iberian pork lard and packed with fresh rosemary, then sent to the caves for about eight months.
The paste is firm and dense, the pale ivory color you'd expect from aged sheep's milk, breaking into clean slabs with a slightly oily edge where the lard cure has worked its way in. On the nose, the rosemary is unmistakable, piney and herbal and very fresh. On the palate it leads with the buttery, faintly nutty character of aged sheep's milk, then the rosemary lifts the finish into something green and aromatic, never bitter, never harsh.
The lard-and-rosemary cure is the calling card here. Eight months in the cave is long enough for the herbs to perfume the paste from the rind in, but not so long that the cheese dries out or the rosemary takes over. It sits right in the sweet spot between a classic Manchego and something more aromatic, and it's a real conversation piece on a board.
Semi-firm and dense like a proper Manchego, breaking cleanly under the knife with a slightly oily edge from the lard cure on the rind.
Classic aged sheep's milk in the middle, with the rosemary coming through on the nose and a clean herbal lift on the back end. Flavorful without being aggressive.
Mid-length finish that holds the rosemary and sheep's milk together, fading on a clean piney note rather than turning bitter.
The fresh-milk character has dried back over eight months in the cave, leaving a quiet sheepy richness rather than a yogurty tang.
Toasted, slightly buttery sheep's milk notes through the paste, the kind of gentle nuttiness you get from a well-aged Manchego-style wheel.
Piney, herbal rosemary and a savory pull from the Iberian lard cure give the rind and the paste near the rind a real garrigue character.
No piquancy or pepper here, the rosemary reads as aromatic rather than hot.
Natural rind
The rind is rubbed with Iberian lard and packed with fresh rosemary, which carries a piney, herbaceous perfume into the paste without ever turning bitter.
Romao stands on its own, but the right partners turn a wedge into a moment. Regional pairings first — they were built for each other.
Spanish reds with a little age echo the rosemary and the savory lard cure, while a dry sherry or Cava cuts the richness of the aged sheep's milk.
The herbal rosemary and sheepy depth want sweet, sticky counterweights like quince or honey, and Marcona almonds bring the whole thing back to its Castilian roots.
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Hand-cut to order the day it ships. Packed cold for overnight delivery.
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