If Manchego isn’t Spain’s top-selling cheese by a large margin, I’d be surprised. We all know Manchego. It’s a dependable—and often exceptional—aged sheep cheese. But Spain has a much bigger story to tell. Its goat cheeses, fresh and aged, can stand up to Europe’s best, but they don’t get much shelf space in American cheese shops. One of my favorite Spanish goat cheeses, I was pleased to learn, is also the favorite of Spanish cheese authority Enric Canut, who told me years ago in an interview that he thought it was his country’s finest.

Canut, a Spanish dairy consultant and world expert on Spanish cheese, is widely credited with helping revive Spain’s artisan cheese production after decades of repression under Franco. The long-ruling dictator, hoping to modernize Spain, had demanded that creameries make cheese on a large scale or not at all. During his rule, small producers went underground or out of business. After Franco’s death, Canut helped many artisan cheesemakers get back on their feet. Most notably, he helped revive production of Garrotxa, the excellent Catalan goat cheese.

Despite his Garrotxa connection, Canut told me that he believes Majorero (pictured above) surpasses it. I’d be hard pressed to choose, but a wedge of Majorero in good condition is a peak cheese experience. I leap on it when I find it, which is rarely.

Made on Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands, Majorero relies on high-fat goat’s milk from the indigenous Majorera breed. The islanders eat the cheese fresh, but the wheels they export are typically at least three to four months old. Some, like the wedge pictured above, are coated in pimentón, which subtly scents the interior. The paste is firm and smooth yet crumbly, with aromas of nuts and cooked milk and a lemony finish.

We’ll be tasting pimentón-coated Majorero in my “Spain On Your Plate” class on June 14, along with several other Spanish cheeses I admire. Please join me then, or for another World Cheese Tour class, to discover more superb cheeses to love.

In the meantime, look for Majorero at the following retailers and ask for it where you shop: Casellula (NYC); Chantal's Cheese Shop (Pittsburgh, PA); Hoboken Cheese & Wine ( NJ); Goat Sheep Cow (Charleston, NC); Gourmet Cellar (San Leandro, CA); Malt & Mold Gramercy (NYC); Oakville Grocery (Oakville, CA); Petaluma Market (Petaluma, CA); Rainbow Grocery (San Francisco); The Rind (Sacramento); Shoprite of West Deptford (NJ); Sonoma’s Best (Sonoma, CA); The Wine Source (Baltimore).

What to drink with Majorero? “White wine always,” says Canut. “A fruity, dry white wine, although it’s very good with oloroso sherry.”