Our Christmas orders are now closed. You can still buy our Cheese Subscriptions to start in January, as well as book our courses and tasting events. If you want to purchase vouchers you can do so until the 20th December but please note that it can take up to 48 hours for the vouchers to be emailed to you as we process these manually.
We have a full counter of cheese in our shop in Pangbourne so you can still come in and purchase items in store
Price range: £3.60 through £21.60
Murcia al Vino is a hard Spanish goat’s cheese. The wheels are soaked for two to three days in red wine. During this time they absorb the flavour of the wine as well as develop a purple rind. The cheese is then aged for three months, developing a creamy, buttery, slightly salty taste and a mild aroma.
Murcia al Vino PDO is a goat’s milk cheese from southeastern Spain, and it’s a bit different to other goat cheeses you may have enjoyed. For a start, it is a hard cheese, albeit with a creamy texture, and it has a deep purple rind (thanks to a good soak in local red wine). It’s one of those cheeses that really tells a story about where it comes from; you can almost picture the goats wandering the hills of Murcia.
No one really seems to know when the Spanish cheesemakers decided to bathe their cheeses in red wine but the result is a stunning cheese that really stands out on a cheeseboard.
Murcia al Vino is a cheese that has been awarded the coveted PDO status, meaning only cheese made in Murcia, using traditional methods, can use the name. It’s been officially protected in the EU since 2002.
This protection means everything to do with the make, from the goats munching away in Murcia to the wine baths, has to happen in the region, under the watchful eye of the local cheese board. If you spot the PDO label, you know you’re getting an authentic cheese.
What makes this cheese unique is its wine bath. The cheese wheels are immersed in local red wine, typically from the DO wine regions of Murcia, such as Jumilla, Yecla, or Bullas. This wash gives the rind a rich maroon-violet colour and lends subtle fruity and floral notes.
Smaller cheeses are matured for at least 30 days, while the big wheels get a bit longer, 45 days or more.
Murcia al Vino has a firm, creamy, and elastic texture with a compact ivory paste. I always think the colour contrast between the paste and the rind is stunning.
For me, its taste is gently tangy and slightly salty, with a lovely balance between the fresh goat’s milk and the wine-soaked rind. On the nose, I often get a floral, red-winey note near the edge, with buttery, creamy notes throughout.
This cheese is a gentle giant; its flavours aren’t the strongest, but they’re surprisingly more-ish. Even if you’re not usually a goat cheese fan, this one’s easy to love.
Jen’s note: Despite its traditional roots, we like to call Murcia al Vino the “Drunken Goat.” It doesn’t take a genius to work out why! And a fun bit of trivia: in the early days, cheesemakers sometimes soaked the wheels too soon and ended up with cracked cheese. These days, they wait until the end of ageing to give the cheese its wine bath, so the texture stays just right.
Sizes and Prices
Storage Advice
Delivery and Collection
Ingredients (Allergens are listed in capitals)
MILK, salt, cultures, rennet, calcium chloride, rind: red wine (min 1%)
Normal opening Monday – Saturday 9am – 4pm until:
Sunday 22nd 9am – 4pm
Monday 23rd 9am – 4pm
Christmas Eve 9am – 12pm
Christmas Day Closed
Boxing Day Closed
Friday 27th Closed
Saturday 28th 9am – 4pm
Sunday 29th Closed
Monday 30th 9am – 2pm
Tuesday 31st 9am – 2pm
New Year’s Day Closed
Thursday 2nd January Closed
Friday 3rd 9am – 4pm then open as normal
After Christmas our courier delivery slots start from 8th January.
