Blahorodna Koza goat farm, Nyzhnia Apsha

Blahorodna Koza ("Noble Goat") is a farm in the village of Nyzhnia Apsha in the Tiachiv area, in the Tysa valley close to the Romanian border. It specialises in goats and sheep and turns their milk into cheese and other dairy products. The Tourism and Resorts Department of the Zakarpattia Regional Administration has included it in its catalogue of regional craft producers, alongside the cheese dairies, wineries and apiaries that represent the modern Zakarpattia countryside.

The farm dates back to December 2014. Its founder, Vasyl Dan, told the government newspaper Uriadovyi Kurier in 2015 that he was inspired by goat cheese he had tasted at an agricultural fair in Kyiv and decided to turn the interest into a business. The starting herd was about two hundred goats, mostly Czech Brown, gathered from mountain villages in the Mizhhiria and Volovets areas, and it grew noticeably within six months. Experienced shepherds from the Rakhiv area looked after the animals, and the farm received regional compensation for its milk-processing equipment under a livestock support programme.

Why go and how to buy

The farm has no website or active social media, and tours or tastings are not officially confirmed. So Blahorodna Koza is above all an address for anyone looking for genuine goat milk and cheese straight from the producer. If you are travelling along the Tysa valley between Tiachiv and Solotvyno, call ahead to find out what is available and agree where and when to collect it. Ask about seeing the herd or the farm during the call too; don't turn up without arranging it.

What to try

• Goat milk: at one time the farm bottled it in half-litre bottles under its own label;
• goat-milk cheeses: pale, delicate, with a light characteristic tang;
• sheep-milk and mixed cheeses: richer and fuller; old shepherds from the Rakhiv area say that goat milk mixed with sheep milk makes for tastier cheese;
• other dairy products: the range changes, so check by phone.

Goat keeping has deep roots in Zakarpattia. In mountain villages the goat was the "poor man's cow", undemanding and able to give milk even on meagre slopes. Today goat cheese is coming back as a craft product, valued for its delicate taste and easy digestibility.

Practical information

• Address (registered): 238 Dibrivska St, Nyzhnia Apsha, Tiachiv district.
• Phone: +38 096 732 15 31.
• Hours, prices, availability: not published; arrange in advance by phone.

Getting there. Nyzhnia Apsha lies on the H09 road, which follows the Tysa valley from Khust and Tiachiv to Solotvyno and Rakhiv, between Tiachiv and Solotvyno. It is an easy drive; without a car, use the buses running between Tiachiv and Solotvyno. Confirm the farm's exact location in the village by phone, as the address comes from registry data.

Please confirm by phone before your trip.

Photos: zaktour.gov.ua; zakarpattya.net.ua.