Manchego & Spanish Sheep Cheese

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Manchego is Spain's calling card: sheep's milk from La Mancha pressed under that unmistakable basket-weave rind. We usually run it as a ladder. A young 6 month that's still pliable and milky, El Trigal at 8 months, and Artequeso's farmhouse wheels at 10 to 12 months, where the paste turns dense and the flavor goes toasty, like roasted nuts and lanolin. Romao and Rabel get rubbed with rosemary as they age, an old shepherd's trick that perfumes the whole wedge. The rest of the page is Manchego's extended family. Campo de Montalbán blends sheep, goat, and cow milk; it gets mistaken for Manchego so often that the comparison is practically its job. Zamorano is the harder, sharper cousin from Zamora. And Idiazabal, the Basque shepherd's cheese, comes lightly smoked the traditional way. A wedge of any of these with membrillo, Marcona almonds, and a glass of Rioja is the fastest route to Spain we know. Cut to order in Beverly Hills and shipped cold to 48 states.