Christmas Cheeseboard

This vintage cheddar is moister and not as crumbly as traditional farmhouse cheddars; uniquely creamy in both taste and texture. Using a 70-year-old recipe, this cheese was first produced in 2000 and has become a firm favourite. As a vintage cheddar, it has to mature for over twelve months to allow it’s very tangy, yet smooth herby taste to develop with fruity notes.

Finn is a soft, double cream cheese with a sweet, slightly nutty and mushroomy flavour and a distinctly salty tang. Made by Charlie Westhead at Neal’s Yard Creamery it’s based on French triple cream cheeses, made from whole milk with added cream to make the cheese richer. Fresh lactic flavours cut through the creamy texture when young. Rich woody flavours of walnuts and mushrooms develop with age, especially in the rind. The Cheese is named after a dog Charlie had at the time and seems appropriate as in Irish, it means ‘great white one’!

Wensleydale was originally a seasonal cheese, made in farmhouses dotted around the dales of North Yorkshire, especially those of Swale and Wensley. Crumbly in texture with a fresh  lactic tang, followed my herby and minerally flavours and a honeyed aftertaste.  Made to a recipe which dates back to 1150 and from the milk of cows grazing Wensleydale’s sweet limestone meadows. The cheese makes a classic combination with apple pie or fruitcake.

A lesser-known yet superb French blue, from town of Ambert in the Auvergne region. The word fourme refers to the old French word for the drum like, cylindrical shape of the cheese and it’s nearly twice as high as it is wide. Legend has it that Fourme d'Ambert was already being made at the time of the Druids and the Gauls. Whether true or not, it is certainly one of the oldest cheeses in France and is AOC protected. A medium strength blue with a rich and buttery texture, a herby tang and nutty, subtle flavours, making it a perfect partner for fine wines as the taste is not overly aggressive.