Aged Navarra sheep cheese: firm, deeply savory, with hazelnut and butter.
Roncal PDO from Navarra, Spain. Raw sheep's milk, aged 6-10 months, with toasted hazelnut, butterscotch, and a gentle piquant finish.
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Roncal is a raw sheep's milk PDO from the Roncal Valley in Navarra, Spain, the first Spanish cheese ever to earn DOP status. Made from the milk of Latxa and Rasa sheep grazing the high Pyrenean pastures, it's pressed into wheels and aged for six to ten months on wood.
The paste is ivory white, firm, and pressed, with that flaky break you get from a real aged sheep's milk cheese. Flavor leans deep and savory, toasted hazelnut and browned butter up front, then a long buttery finish with notes of lanolin and butterscotch and a gentle piquant pull on the back of the palate. The high-altitude pasture really shows up in the cheese, a grassy herbal note running underneath everything.
Roncal was the original. Before Manchego had its DOP, this was the protected Spanish sheep cheese, and the recipe has barely changed in centuries. If you're already a Manchego drinker, Roncal is the next step up in intensity and complexity. Right in the sweet spot at this age.
Firm and pressed, breaks into clean flaky shards under the knife with an ivory paste that stays dense and dry.
Pronounced and savory up front, with that real Pyrenean sheep character coming through. Bold but never sharp for sharpness' sake.
Long and buttery on the back end, a slow pull of lanolin and butterscotch that hangs on the palate well after the bite.
The fresh milk has mostly aged out. What's left is a quiet sheep-butter note tucked under the savory bigger flavors.
Deep toasted hazelnut and browned butter through the middle, with a touch of butterscotch sweetness as it warms.
A grassy, herbal pull from the high mountain pasture, with that distinctive lanolin note you only get from sheep grazing wild herbs.
A gentle piquant bite at the back of the palate, peppery rather than hot, building slowly the longer you chew.
Natural rind
Natural rind, hard and dry from the cave. Adds a savory, slightly mineral note if you nibble it, but most people trim it off.
Roncal stands on its own, but the right partners turn a wedge into a moment. Regional pairings first — they were built for each other.
Roncal's savory, nutty intensity wants a Spanish red with some structure. A dry Fino or Amontillado mirrors the nuttiness, and Cava cuts the dense paste cleanly.
Membrillo with Roncal is the classic Spanish move, the sweet quince balancing the cheese's piquant savory edge. Honey and figs work the same magic for the same reason.
Video represents style and type of cheese - may not be an exact match in all cases.
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Hand-cut to order the day it ships. Packed cold for overnight delivery.
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