Quality organic and artisanal cheeses from Murcia with class. Are those manufactured by CASA RUPERTO.
It is a family business, dedicated to agriculture and livestock, has its headquarters in the Casa Nueva farm, in the hamlet of El Mirador in the town of San Javier( Murcia).
Although they have been in the sector for a short time, little by little they have been making space in it, due mainly to their identity.
Own production and a manual and artisan work in everything they do, and carry out, it gives a quality to their cheeses difficult to match. In these two qualities is where they daily test all their senses and knowledge.

Quality organic and artisanal cheeses from Murcia with class

The History of Casa Ruperto.

In 2015, they converted their sheep from beef to dairy cattle. Since then they work every day to achieve their goals.
In the words of Lorena Madrid (current sole and veterinary administrator), is to control the entire process from start to finish. A lot of enthusiasm and dedication is your recipe.
From the cultivation of cattle feed, to the transformation of the final product to the consumer, in our case the cheese. Without forgetting the inestimable support and collaboration of his father Juan Carlos.
Lorena, declares that her family has been dedicated to cattle for more than 100 years. Her grandfather Ruperto dedicated his whole life to the care and raising of cattle, and that his experience and wisdom has been the best inheritance he has left to his father and her.
The company currently has a livestock of 3,500 sheep.

Preparation of the cheese

Three generations dedicated to sheep, learning and improving the techniques of different areas (breeding, feeding, milking, etc.).
They decided with great success, to change the Segureño cattle, for the Lacaunne milk cattle. Achieving excellent cheeses and a class that makes them different from others in the area and the rest of Spain.
They remove the curd by hand in the tank and mold it with great care, turning the cheeses every day and periodically washing the washed bark.
Finally, they wrap each cheese in food paper to protect it from light and air, so that it reaches the consumer in the best possible condition so that he can enjoy everything that is inside these cheeses.

Unique and handmade

The characteristics that make this dairy different from others is that the food that its sheep receive is cultivated in the lands owned by the owners.
There the animals graze under a control of quality of the pastures, with which this way we guarantee to our sheep an optimal and quality food. Controlling the traceability of the process at all times.
Another differentiating quality is the manual work that is carried out in all processes, which are the DNA of this cheese brand.
These cheeses are unique in the Murcian community, and have received two important national awards (Gourmetquesos 2018), in the short space of time they have in the market. Cheeses that are already sold in the best specialty stores in the country.

Cheese Author

Nowadays, this cheese factory has the latest innovations and the most innovative facilities for process optimization.
Therefore, this year they start the activity in a small artisan cheese factory in the same location as the cattle ranch. With its own production of milk, we make raw milk cheese from sheep, without subjecting our milk to thermal treatments that modify its microbiological activity.
Thanks to the situation of the cheese factory, they have the advantage of being able to make their cheese with freshly milked milk. This comes directly through a closed duct from the milking machine to the processing tank.

The base of a good cheese is in the cattle.

Lorena tells us that for them it is very important to carry out a closed cycle in our production, being able to control animal welfare from the beginning.
With our own production of forages and cereals we get control of the feeding of our animals. Animals are the most important thing. Therefore, we take strict control in cleaning the stables. The nurseries where we raise our ewe lambs, and in general all the exploitation.
We make our cheese from freshly milked milk, without subjecting it to any heat treatment.
The process is done in a traditional way, the cheese is made by us, not a machine. We treat the milk with ferments and curds until the curd is ready.
We have three different cold chambers for the evolution of cheese. An oreo chamber for drying, a ripening chamber, and a conservation chamber.

New types of cheeses

It is currently in the production phase, and will soon start marketing the new cheeses:
• MATURE CHEESE “EL ABUELO RUPERTO”, in a 700-800gr, 2 and 7 Kg format. It is a long-maturing cheese, reaching up to 1 year of maturation in the formats of 2 and 7 Kg.
• RUPERTO CORTEZA LAVADA, presented in 800 grams format. Its main characteristic is that it distinguishes its orange bark with the smell of fungus. Intense and persistent taste in the mouth.
• QUESO AZUL RUPERTO, is presented in 500 gr format. Maturation of 45-60 days. It is a different blue cheese. Soft at the beginning, and it evolves in the mouth, reaching a clean and intense flavor
• RULO DE OVEJA RUPERTO, sold in 500 gr format. Short maturation 20-30 days. Soft and melting taste in the mouth.

Conclusions

Ruperto cheeses are organic cheeses made from sheep’s milk. They are made thanks to a family initiative in the field El Mirador (Murcia), in an artisanal way.
Taking advantage of the milk of a family sheep livestock was what sparked interest in cheese. From there, to what today they have been a long way that now begins to bear fruit.
Today their cheeses are highly valued and awarded. Organic and artisanal cheeses

Article written by Ángel Marqués Ávila. Journalist