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Last Sunday, the best Cabrales cheese of the year was auctioned in Arenas de Cabrales for 36,000 euros, an all-time record in the 52 editions of this traditional contest that praises Asturian cheese. The event, which also includes folk festivals and traditional activities, is one of the oldest and most popular cheese contests in Spain.
The winning cheese, weighing about 2.5 kilos, comes from the Ángel Díaz Herrero cheese factory in Tielve, and was selected by the jury from among fifteen producers who participated in the competition.
Following the same pattern as in previous editions, Iván Suárez, from Llagar de Colloto, was the highest bidder for the cheese, thus maintaining his record in the Guinness World Records as the most expensive cheese in the world at auction, surpassing his own record of 30,000 euros from last year. This restaurant has held this record since 2018 and has managed to acquire the Best Cabrales Cheese in the last five editions, with figures increasing each year from €14,300 in 2018 to the current €36,000.
Cabrales cheese, protected by the Denomination of Origin since 1981, is handmade with raw milk and matured in caves in the Picos de Europa, which gives it its characteristic bluish veins. This year, Cabrales prices ranged between 30 and 42 euros per kilo, depending on the ripening time. In addition, nearly 290,000 kilos of Cabrales were marketed in 2022, a quarter of them destined for export, consolidating its global reputation.
