São Jorge Cheese Route, Azores

The Cheese

Queijo São Jorge DOP is a hard, spicy raw cow's milk cheese. In the 1920s the island had 37 cheese factories; today production is concentrated in three cooperatives: Uniqueijo at Beira, Lourais at Ribeira Seca and Finisterra at Topo. Uniqueijo, founded in 1986, produces, ripens and packs the DOP cheese for its member cooperatives.

Factories You Can Visit

Uniqueijo, Beira (Velas)

At Canadinha Nova, a few minutes from Velas. A large modern plant where thousands of cheeses ripen at different ages; visits Monday to Friday by appointment.

Finisterra, Topo

The Topo cooperative, founded in 1944, moved into a new factory in 2009 and makes Topo cheese. Its staff take visitors through every stage and finish with a tasting, Monday to Saturday by appointment.

Not Taking Visitors

The official route currently marks visits to the Lourais factory in Ribeira Seca and to Queijaria Canada, a small private dairy that makes its own cheese from about 50 cows, as unavailable.

On the Farm

At Emanuel Fontes' dairy farm in Ribeira Seca you can watch the cows come in to be milked, try milking by hand and drink milk fresh from the cow. Quinta Feliz near Topo offers farm days with animals, an ox cart and milking.

Museums

The Casa Museu Cunha da Silveira in Velas, an 18th-century mansion, covers the island's farming and sea life and the family that opened a cheese and butter factory at Beira in the late 19th century. The Núcleo Museológico dos Nortes "A Queijaria" in Ribeira d'Areia, Norte Grande, displays cheesemaking equipment from the late 19th and 20th centuries in an old school, and the Casa do Parque in Norte Grande shows short films on island traditions, including cheese.

Itineraries

The route suggests five plans: a full-day island crossing from Topo to Rosais, half a day in Calheta with the cows, the north coast with the cheese museum, Topo for the Finisterra factory and its rural traditions, and Velas for Uniqueijo and the Cunha da Silveira museum. The tourist board lists certified local agents who can guide them.

Getting There

Velas is the main town and Topo is at the far eastern tip of this long, narrow island, so you need a car or one of the certified guides to link the stops.