Beaufort -

Produced from the full-flavoured milk of the Tarentaise cattle which graze in lush Alpine meadows, and ripened in the cool, humid caves and cellars of the Haute-Savoie - France’s answer to Gruyère is full of unusual, nutty, mellow, caramel flavours.

Bleu d’Auvergne A.O.C.

A cows milk cheese made in the Massif Central.  It is a lightly piquant creamy cheese with a pale paste and a sharply defined dark blue veining.  The cheese is ripened for two months in cool cellars to develop an almost Roquefort like taste.

Brie de Meaux A.O.C. –

One of the most imitated cheeses in the world; Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun are the only two authentic Bries available today. With its complex, nutty flavour, and its hint of mushroom, the real stuff is just too good to neglect.

Gorwydd Caerphilly -

One of the four British “crumblies”, avoid factory imitations and try this delicious cheese from Todd Trethowan in Dyfed. First made in Caerphilly in 1831, and eaten like cake by miners in the pits, this cheese has a fresh citrus taste and a pliable yet supple texture. Delicious on its own, in a Ploughman’s, or grilled as Welsh rarebit.

Camembert de Normandie A.O.C. -

One of the world’s most famous cheeses, Camembert originates from the Pays d’Auge in Normandy.  A perfect Camembert has a fine velvet rind slightly off-white in colour.  The aroma is mushroomy with a yeasty almost meaty taste.  Inside the thin crusty rind lies perfection - a delicious cheese with a voluptuous, creamy consistency.

Cashel Blue -

Made with milk from Jane & Louis Grubb’s pedigree herd of Holstein cows which graze at their farm in County Tipperary, as this cheese matures it develops a luxuriously creamy texture and a piquant, herby flavour which makes it delicious with wholemeal bread or plain crackers.
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Cilowen Organic -

From the maker of Llanboidy, Sue Jones of Whitland, Camarthenshire, Cilowen Organic has a hard, buttery texture beautifully complemented by it toffee sweetness and the long almost milky aftertaste that soon follows. Great with cornichons and a glass of cider!

Clonmore Goat -

Made by Tom and Lena Biggane using the milk from their heard of goats in County Limerick. It has an ivory paste with a golden rind.  The texture is open and slightly crumbly when young, as it is at present.  The flavour is mellow and creamy with a slightly tangy aftertaste.

Comté -

Comté is produced in the mountains of the Jura, it takes 530 litres of milk, the daily production of 30 cows, to make one cheese weighing 45kg.  The cheese has a firm yet supple paste that melts in the mouth, leaving a sweet taste.  The salt is strong but balanced and the flavour has a nutty tang.  It is a good accompaniment to an aperitif, or may be eaten in a salad, with fruit or grilled in a crouque-monsieur.

Cooleeney -

Handmade by Breda Maher, this camembert-style cheese is full-flavoured and grassy, with a distinct aroma of mushrooms. Its semi-liquid interior benefits from the pastures for which Tipperary is famous, while the slight bitterness in its aftertaste makes it a surprising and welcome addition to any cheeseboard.

Cornish Blue -

Made by Philip and Carol Stansfield at the Cheesewring Dairy in Liskeard, Cornwall.  This cheese is produced by hand and matured for 12 weeks to develop into a medium-strength blue cheese which offers the creaminess of Blue Wensleydale, the subtle sweetness of Fourme d’Ambert and the supple chewiness of Cashel Blue.

Cornish Yarg

Named after the original makers Alan & Jenny Gray – Yarg being Gray spelt backwards! Yarg is wrapped in nettles which creates a moist cheese which tastes fresh and creamy with a gentle tang. The cheeses are matured for for 6 to 8 weeks, during this time the crumbly paste becomes softer at the edges and this texture then advances towards the centre. The flavour becomes less tangy and more musty with age.

Cotherstone

Made from an old Dales recipe by Joan Cross of Barnard Castle, Co. Durham, this crumbly and moist open textured cow’s milk cheese is refreshingly sour but buttery with a crisp white wine acidity and a fresh citrus tang. It is one of the few traditional Dale cheeses still being made in the wild and beautiful Pennines.

Crottin de Chavignol

Its name comes from ‘crot’, a small day lamp that inspired its shape. It can be eaten creamy or very dry and is excellent for grilling.
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Denhay Cheddar

Made at the Denhay Farm in Bridport, Dorset.  This cheese is made using traditional farmhouse methods creating a perfectly balanced cheddar.  Denhay has a dense chewy texture and a delicious mellow nuttiness.  Its surprisingly earthy aftertaste and grass and clover aroma, makes it a great addition to any cheese board.

Devon Blue

This cheese is matured for six months and has a leafy mouldy aroma. It has a deliciously lingering creamy steely-blue flavour with a hint of caramel. It is moist and crumbly in texture.

Devon Oke

From Rachel Stevens in Okehampton, this light buttery cheese has its own dedicated following. With grassy tones and a finish like soured cream, it is as moreish as you like, and is delicious with crusty white bread.

Dorset Blue Vinny

Vinny is the old English word for veining, and the blue comes from the penicillium mould that occurs naturally in the air.  These invade the young, moist, skimmed milk curd to create what is known as blue fade.  The cheese is mellow with a distinctive steely blue flavour.

Double Gloucester Smart’s

Diana Smart from Churcham is now the only maker of traditional Double Gloucester in Gloucestershire.  The full-cream milk she uses gives it its characteristic rich buttery taste and flaky texture. It is firm and biteable like hard chocolate, and has a mellow, nutty character with a delicious orange-zest tang.

Emmental de Savoie

Although Emmental resembles Gruyere, the aroma is sweeter, with tones of fresh-cut hay.  Emmental has holes the size of walnuts, but how do those wholes get there?  When maturing the cheese ferments creating carbon dioxide as the rind becomes harder the gas can’t escape and the wholes are formed!  Emmental is the largest of all cheeses with a wheel weighing in at over 220lbs!

Epoisses de Bourgogne AOC

A pungent, soft cow’s milk cheese revived by Robert Berthaud in 1956 after a 20 year absence.  The sticky orange rind is washed in Marc de Bourgogne which helps develop the distinctive strong aroma, however its bark is worse than its bite!  The flavour is both meaty and bittersweet with a briny aftertaste, and the texture is gloriously velvety. In a word, magnificent.

Fourme d’Ambert A.O.C.

Fourme is the old French word for cheese, while Ambert is a town in the Auvergne.  The cheese has a creamy interior and colourful crust with thick uneven wrinkles, creating a rather jaunty lopsided look.  It has a mellow, nutty flavour - not to rich with a wonderful savoury tang to the finish.

Golden Cross

This glorious goat’s cheese made by Alison Blunt in East Sussex is lightly dusted with ash and has a firm slightly grainy texture.  It has a delicious creamy flavour with a subtle sweetness and lemony aftertaste.

Gorgonzola Dolce DOP

Made in Lombardy, this cheese is soft and creamy with a delicate blue vein.  The flavour is rich with a hint of spicy mushroom.  It is also great for cooking. Why not make a delicious and simple pasta sauce?

Gorgonzola Picante DOP

The fabulous, authentic Italian blue cheese, made in Lombardy, this cheese is creamier and sweeter than stilton, but similar in strength.  The blue vein in the cheese imparts a sharp, spicy flavour.  This provides a contrast to the delicate, rich, creamy interior that melts on the tongue, releasing a complexity of flavours.

Gruyère Réserve

Made from un-pasteurised milk in the farming regions surrounding the town of Gruyère in the Canton of Fribourg, and dating back at least as far as 1115, a single wheel of this cheese requires 88 gallons of milk!  Slightly grainy and saltily granular, it has a complex array of flavours – at first fruity, then revealing more earthy, nutty characteristics that linger on the palate.

Gubbeen

From the wild coastline of West Cork, this cheese, made by Jeffa Gill, has its own, unique, wonderful, earth sweetness. Savoury, almost meaty, it has a dense, creamy texture and a prolonged, earthy aftertaste.

Hawkston

Made by Sarah Richardson in the Suffolk village of Baylham.  The cheese is clothbound and matured for 4 months resulting in a delicate and slightly acidic flavour, the texture is refreshingly moist and crumbly resembling a Caerphilly or young Wensleydale.  Great with a glass of Suffolk cider!

Isle of Mull

Isle of Mull is made by Jeff Reade at Sgriob-ruadh Farm Dairy, Tobermory on the Isle of Mull.  This traditional cheddar is made with unpasteurised cows milk and traditional animal rennet.  It is quite a soft, fruity cheddar with flavours that are as wild and unpredictable as the Mull weather, sometimes sharp, sometimes meaty, try it and judge for yourself!

Keen’s Cheddar

Made by the Keen family at Moorhayes Farm near Wincanton, Somerset.  This traditional cheddar is made with unpasteurised cows milk.  It has a creamy texture with complex savoury, nutty, earthy flavours and tangy acidity.

Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire

Mrs Kirkham’s was one of the first “Tasty” (mature) Lancashires available outside the county made using traditional methods - combining the curd from three different days. This gives it a three dimensional flavour - sharp and mellow at the same time with a hint of burnt onion,  a citrus tang and a distinctly peppery aftertaste.  Eat on its own or with apple pie, toast it, put it in some soup or use it for cauliflower cheese!

Vintage Lincolnshire Poacher

Made by Simon Jones at Ulceby Grange in Lincolnshire, this aged cheese is compact and chewy, with a creamy, rich, nutty character that is sweet, yet balanced by a feisty acidity that hints of green grass.  The finish is bitter-sweet and long lasting.

Livarot A.O.C.

Known as “The Colonel” because of the five stripes that encircle it, and originally made by monks from the Pays d’Auge in Normandy, the paste of Livarot is thick and supple with a pungent earthiness and a strong finish.

Lord of the Hundreds

Stonegate’s answer to Manchego - Lord of the Hundreds is a ewe’s milk cheese from Stonegate in East Sussex.  Its texture is light and flaky and it has a sweet, nutty flavour that lingers on the pallet.  The magnificent shape of this cheese makes this cheese a great addition to any cheese board.

Manchego “La Prudenciana” DO

Spain’s best-known ewe’s milk cheese, for centuries it provided shepherds in La Mancha with durable food for their long migrations in search of pasture.  It is relatively sweet and mild with a touch of salty nuts, and the paste is firm and compact. Great with quince, figs or honey!

Villarejo Manchego D.O. curado/semi curado

An unpasteurised ewes' milk cheese from La Mancha.  The Villarejo dairy is a small family business using milk collected from neighbouring farms to make their artisan cheeses.  The curado is matured for 6-8 months and the semi curado 3-4 months.  The semi curado cheese is creamy but compact in texture with a long favour and a slight bite whilst the curado develops a stronger flavour and a slightly crystalline texture.

Monte Enebro

Meaning “Juniper Hill”, Monte Enebro is a wonderful farmhouse cheese.  The paste is white, smooth, rich and creamy with an intense lingering flavour. It is distinctly goaty, with complex woody aromas and hints of herbs and fresh hazelnuts.  Monte Enebro is produced by a small dairy, Queserías del Tiétar located in the small town of La Adrada in the province of Avila, and all the milk comes from local shepherds.

Montgomery Cheddar

To many people Jamie Montgomery’s traditional cheddar is the benchmark for all cheddars.  The cheese we have now is just under 13 months old, being made on 1 September 2006 with milk from his heard that will have grazed on the luscious June pastures.  It has an explosion of flavours with a superb richness, spicy green acidity and real depth to the fruity finish.  No doubt a great cheese.
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Old Winchester

As the name suggests it is a mature version of the Winchester. Its texture is much dryer and harder, becoming more reminiscent of an Old Amsterdam with a distinctive nuttiness in flavour. In 2006, in a stunning result, it initially took gold in the British Cheese Awards then went on to win the Best Modern British Cheese class.

Olde Sussex

Made by Cliff Dyble in Stonegate, East Sussex, this hard pressed cow’s cheese has a light, summery taste with a refreshing citrus tang, followed by a hint of soured cream with fresh apples. A great alternative to cheddar, serve with bread and pickles washed down with fresh apple juice.

Ossau-Iraty “Le Berger Basque”

Le Berger Basque (the Basque Shepherd) is made in small mountain chalets in the foothills on the French side of the Pyrénées.  The milk comes from the black-faced Manech sheep, producing a hard fairly dry cheese with a slightly tangy, almost spicy taste. A subtle, very enjoyable cheese not ruined by mass production.

Pecorino Sardo Lupa D.O.C.

This wonderfully mature farmhouse Ewe’s milk cheese from Sardinia is protected under the Italian D.O.C. system.  It has a sweet, nutty and almost herbaceous flavour.  Its texture is hard but not crumbly and is perfect for pasta and risotto.  It is also delightful after dinner with a fruity Italian red such as a Barbera d’Alba.

Pecorino Fresco D.O.C.

This wonderful young farmhouse Ewe’s milk cheese from Tuscany is protected under the Italian D.O.C. system.  Its flavour is sweet and nutty with a hint of lemon.  Its texture is soft and slightly crumbly.  It is a treat eaten alone with pears and is great for melting dishes too.

Picos de Europa

Made with a mixture of cow’s and goat’s milk in the village of Valdeon in the heart of the Picos de Europa mountains in Northern Spain.  A creamy moist cheese made, probably from a recipe brought to Spain by early French pilgrims. Wrapped in plane leaves, it has a pleasantly salty bite and a clean, piquant finish.

Pont l’Eveque                                                                                 

From the Pays d’Auge in Normandy, this 6-8 weeks matured brine-washed cheese has a nutty aroma and a supple open-textured paste. The flavour is relatively mild with a subtle sweetness and a rich, creamy finish.  Great with biscuits, it is also delicious layered with onions, potatoes and mushrooms in a casserole.

Sparkenhoe Red Leicester

Cheese has been made on Sparkenhoe Farm since 1740 and David and Jo Clarke are continuing this trade, by hand-making the only traditional cloth-bound Red Leicester cheese in England.  They use un-pasteurised milk from their pedigree Holstein Friesian herd creating a cheese that has a firm body and a close, flaky texture. The flavour is delicately sweet with a slight green-grass bitterness behind the distinctive butterscotch and nutty flavours.

Reblochon de Savoie A.O.C.

Freshness, youth, and tenderness are the most noticeable features of this mountain cheese from the Savoie.  The name derives from the verb reblocher to “milk again”.  This is because Reblochon is made from the second, richer and creamier milking of the herd.  Its sweet flavour opens in the mouth, leaving a delicately nutty aftertaste.

Roquefort AOC

This great French ewe’s milk blue cheese has been praised by emperors, kings and poets, and was known to the Romans as far back as the first century AD. Made from a mixture of morning and the previous evening’s milk and ripened in the Combalou caves, the cheese has a firm, smooth and almost spreadable texture. The aroma is milky, with nuts and fruity raisins, while the flavour is salty with delicate complexity and a strong, tangy finish.

Rosary Goat

Clare Moody has been making fresh goat’s cheese at the family farm in Wiltshire for over 20 years using milk from a select herd of 100 pedigree British Saanen goats.  The cheese is fresh and soft and comes in three ways, plain, pepper or herb & garlic.  The flavour is creamy yet sharp with a wonderful lemony zesty finish.  Try it as bruschetta with sun-blushed tomatoes, in pasta or just on its own.
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Saint-Nectaire

This is an ancient cheese from the Auvergne.  It is pressed for 24 hours and ripened on rye straw for two months.  It has a firm, golden centre with a gentle mellow taste.  The natural crust adds an earthy, mushroomy flavour.  The cheese is protected by an appellation d’origine.

Sharpham

Winner of the Best Soft White Cheese at the 2007 British Cheese Awards.  Sharpham is made using milk from a small Jersey heard and the brie style cheese is so smooth and thick it feels like Devonshire clotted cream, with just a hint of acidity and an undertone of mushrooms.

Cropwell Bishop Shropshire Blue

Despite its name, this cheese was made in Scotland! Similar in style to stilton, the colour comes from adding a few drops of the natural dye, annatto, to the vat.  The cheese retains its blue taste, while the annatto seems to create a hint of rich, buttery, burnt caramel.

Single Gloucester Charles Martell’s

Made by Charles Martell using skimmed milk from the evening milking of his rare Old Gloucester cows, this cheese is firm and biteable with a buttery, vanilla flavour. Mild but with character, it has some sweetness on the finish to balance the slight acidity.
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Cropwell Bishop Stilton

Made at the creamery in Cropwell Bishop this classic blue cheese has a nutty, spicy blue flavour with a clean, lasting, tangy finish.  It is rich and creamy with the blue mould spreading out to the rind like cracked porcelain.  Eaten with fruit, added to soup or just on it’s own, it is the perfect blue cheese!

Stinking Bishop

Charles Martell’s wonderfully aromatic and pungent cheese has won numerous awards both here and abroad.  Washed in perry made from a local Gloucestershire pear called the “Stinking Bishop”, this delicious cheese has an almost luscious velvety texture.  The sweet, slightly burnt-toffee character of the milk comes through on the finish, which is distinct but not quite as strong as you might expect.

Suffolk Gold

Made by Jason Salisbury at his farm in Coddenham using the milk from his pedigree Guernsey heard.  As the milk from these cows is so rich and creamy it develops a rich buttery colour.  The texture is elastic and slightly squidgy and it has a mellow yet distinctive flavour reminiscent of fresh herbs and clover.

Swaledale Blue

Another of the great old dales cheeses revived by Mandy Reed in the valley of the Swale river in North Yorkshire. It has a rich creamy texture with a medium blue veining and mellow sweet, nutty after taste.

Swaledale Cow

The origin of Swaledale cheese is surrounded in mystery, but popular belief is that it was first made in the local abbeys as far back as the 11th century, by Cistercian monks who had travelled from Normandy.  Creamy in colour with a light, open texture, very moist, slightly acidic, mild yet distinctive.

Swaledale Ewe

An old cheese revived in the 1980s by Mandy Reed in the valley of the Swale river in North Yorkshire. This award winner is soaked in brine then matured in humid cellars, producing its distinctive grey-blue rind. It has the freshness of the misty Dales with the sweet caramel undertone of ewe’s milk.

Swaledale Goat

An old cheese revived in the 1980s by Mandy Reed in the valley of the Swale river in North Yorkshire. This award winner is soaked in brine then matured in humid cellars, producing its distinctive grey-blue rind.  It is fresh tasting with the lemony acidity typical of Dales cheeses.

Taleggio

Made as long ago as the eleventh century by families in and around the small town of Taleggio in Bergamo.  The cheese has a deep pinkish-orange washed rind, the centre is pale ivory and supple, with a few holes here and there.  It melts in the mouth and the taste is beautifully full and fruity, with roasted nuts going into a long creamy finish.

Ticklemore Goat

Now made by Mark Shorman at the Sharpham Creamery near Totnes, this dry and crumbly yet pleasingly chewy goat’s cheese with an unusual shape is subtle yet distinctive enough to hold its own on any board. Serve alongside something creamy and eat with wholemeal bread and white grapes.

Tomme d'Aydius Chèvre Pyrénées

Made in the Pyrénées this is a mellow yet full flavoured goat’s cheese.  It has a natural dull yellow rind with a smooth, buttery paste.  It has a rich almost caramel flavour with a slightly salty aftertaste.

Tomme de Savoie

An ancient mountain cheese made in Winter when the herdsmen have returned from the Summer pastures (the summer milk is used for Beaufort), this semihard cheese has a strongly grassy aroma with the sweet flavour of fudge, milk and walnuts. Great with bread and salad or fruit.

Vacherin Mont d’Or

Vacherin is so smooth and runny it can be eaten with a spoon!  The aroma of resin is absorbed in the cheese from the bark girdle that surrounds it.  The taste is mellow and honey sweet.

Valencay A.O.C.

This goats’ milk cheese from Berry is covered in a natural blue/grey rind with a velvety texture.  The cheese has an almost woody aroma and a fresh nutty flavour with a delicate mouse like texture that melts in the mouth.

Waterloo

This soft Guernsey cow’s milk cheese from Anne Wigmore in Riseley, Berkshire, is rich, slightly sweet and creamy, yet supple and chewy.  When really ripe the centre oozes onto the plate and begs to be mopped up with chunks of crunchy baguette.

Hawes Wensleydale

The very best Wensleydale cheeses are made at the Hawes creamery, deep in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.  The art of making this quintessential English crumbly cheese is to balance the citric acidity with a delicate creaminess.  When young as this cheese is a moist crumbly texture allows the flavours to spread across the tastebuds.

Westcombe Cheddar

Made by Bob Bramley at Lower Westcombe Farm near Shepton Mallett, Somerset.  It is firm-textured and closely knit.  It tastes rich, deep and fruity with caramel overtones and sometimes has a tangy bite at the end.  A great British cheddar!

Wigmore

Named for its maker, Anne Wigmore of Berkshire, this gold medal-winning sheep’s milk cheese has a voluptuous consistency and an array of flavours combining wild flowers, burnt caramel, macadamia nuts and roast lamb.
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Winchester

This cheese is gouder-like in its characteristics. The flavour has an immediate hit with an element of creaminess, a subtle nuttiness and a slight tang as it lingers on the palate. Very refreshing!