Montenebro, Also Known as Montenebraaaaaaaah

Actually the pronunciation is closer to MON-teh-NEY-bro, but when life hands you bro jokes you run with them. 

In a nutshell I have been a bad blogger and neglected whatever fans I actually have with two straight missed posts. Today you get three as a humble apology. I know, I know: Wildest dreams and all that.

I do so love goat cheese and am always looking for the next fix, so today's first cheese really caught my eye. Hanging out in the Spanish section of the store, alongside such champions as Capricho de Cabra, it had a lot to live up to from the start. Fortunately for me and now you all, Montenebro does not disappoint. 

Origin: Avila, Spain

Milk: Goat, pastuerized

Rennet: Animal

Affinage: 4 weeks

Notes: That lovely rind it has is a result of an inoculation of Penicillium Roqueforti. The flavor is not at all like that of a blue cheese, but the rind does show a little kick thanks to this creative touch.

Thoughts: A mature and sharp but still complex paste makes up the center of this lovely cheese, and even though it has serious presence for a goat cheese that doesn’t translate into an overly chalky texture. Somehow nutty as well as the usual sweet and tangy, this really is a treat. It is, however, a bite of the whole cheese, rind included, that betrays the true genius of this cheese. A substantial creamline gives a heavenly texture as well as even more kick and the Roqueforti rind tosses in both a pleasantly contrasting texture and an extra little zing at the end. Decadent could describe it; a brilliantly executed surface ripened goat cheese.

Truth be told I just recently bought and documented about five new cheeses, an exciting and overdue time at this Cheese Addicts house, so today you get some fresh off the presses. Not that that metaphor has any real meaning in this context.