Quesos La Casota

A family business founded around José Araque Carrascosa, the fifth generation of Manchego shepherds based in La Solana. Traditionally, these shepherds used surplus milk to make their own cheese, which served not only as food for themselves but also as a product to trade and support their economy. La Solana was repopulated by shepherds who knew how to make the most of the rich pastures in the surrounding area. This cheesemaking tradition is highlighted by the town’s official chronicler in the following text: "The origins of the present-day town of La Solana date back to the 12th century. In 1184, the first Master of the Order of Santiago, Pedro Fernández de Castro, donated to the order the castle reconquered from the Muslims. The castle was located on the site that would later become the Parish Church of Santa Catalina. At the beginning of the 20th century, La Solana began an important period of growth, and in the first third of the century its population increased by 60 percent. Nevertheless, it preserved its traditions, including the production of Manchego cheese. This is acknowledged in the 1905 "Guía Consultor e Indicador de Ciudad Real y su provincia", which refers to "the renowned sheep’s milk cheeses that enjoy such a deserved and popular reputation"—cheeses highlighted alongside monuments such as the Gothic church of Santa Catalina and its landmark tower known as "La buena moza", the Mudéjar church of San Sebastián, the Baroque churches of the Dominican nuns and Trinitarian friars, and the majestic Plaza Mayor. Eight hundred years after its reconquest by the knights of Santiago and its repopulation by the shepherds of La Solana, as the town continues to grow and reaches 15,250 inhabitants, its livestock heritage remains alive thanks to the descendants of those first settlers, who continue making cheese as they learned from generation to generation since the Middle Ages." Through its owner, the company has its own livestock, consisting of 2,000 purebred Manchega sheep. Together with another 10,000 Manchega sheep, they belong to the municipalities of La Solana, Membrilla, Manzanares, Argamasilla de Alba and Alhambra; these farms hold all the required health records and controls. The livestock lives and feeds in landscapes typical of Castilla-La Mancha, at an average altitude of 700 meters and in an extreme climate, ranging from below-zero temperatures in winter to 45ºC in summer. These characteristics influence the pastures eaten by the sheep, which, together with naturally based feed also from this same area, give Manchega milk distinctive qualities that set it apart from other milks. The livestock facilities are among the most modern in Castilla-La Mancha, with virtually all processes mechanized.