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Oveja Champagne Rosé is a new cheese for us this past year.
Oveja Champagne Rosé is a new cheese for us this past year. This special sheep's milk cheese from the Castile-La Mancha area of Spain is infused with a concentration of Rosé Champagne and Cava. The paste of this firm cheese is veined with a beautiful pink colour. Gorgeous on a cheese board and very wine-friendly, this is a nice introduction to sheep's milk cheeses.
The wheels are around 3 kilos and look suspiciously like a wheel of Manchego, if you didn't see the giveaway pink outer rind. We carry two versions of the Oveja. One is aged 5 months, and one is over 8 months.
Cheese: Oveja Champagne Rosé.
Milk Type: Sheep's milk.
Tasting Notes: Besides its beautiful appearance, this cheese is much more than a mere novelty. Cheese with infusions or additives isn't always my favourite, as the flavours often don't complement each other well. I'm always wary that the flavours are just masking badly made cheese. It is truly a perfect example of the exception to the rule.
Sheep's milk cheeses often have a fruity, delicate taste, with a clean, sharp finish depending on their aging.
The Oveja Champagne Rosé has the perfect pairing of flavours, melding into one elegant package. Fruitiness from the sheep milk blends with the fruitiness of the wine flavours, and the tiny bit of sharpness at the end leaves you with a memory of clean, bright flavours made better together rather than muddying your taste buds.
Pairing: I've served this very successfully alongside other tasty but perhaps not too strong cheeses. Maybe a fresh goat or a double cream brie. It worked very well with white wines for me, and I did try it cut into thin spears with some Champagne, and it was surprisingly tasty. I'm not sure that you would want to serve too strong a condiment or jam with it, as it has some lingering fruitiness that comes across as a bit of sweetness. Maybe some apple slices or fresh stone fruit in season, but I think it is interesting enough that, just cut into small wedges, it doesn't really need anything to accompany it.
GOW Suggested Wine Pairings:
