Vegetarian Festive Cheese Gift Box

A soft, bloomy-rinded cheese with a pale yellow, buttery paste.  More delicate than a French Brie and less mushroomy and vegetably, the sweet grassy pastures, sown with clover, on which the cows graze reflected in the taste of the cheese. Made at Kirkham farm, near Lower Slaughter, where the Weavers have been farming organically for three generations. Every morning the milk travels the five meters from the milking shed to the creamery and is pasteurised but not standardised, so it retains its unique and variable character. Simon Weaver has won a number of prestigious awards for his cheese.

Golden Cross is a log shaped goat’s milk cheese which can be eaten fresh or matured. The cheese is lightly charcoaled prior to maturation as a velvety white penicillium mould develops on the surface. When young, the cheese has a fine, firm silky texture and a fresh, citrusy flavour. As it matures the cheese becomes denser and creamier and develops a stronger, more complex flavour.

First made in the early 1980’s by Alan and Jenny Gray (Yarg is their surname reversed!) and based on a 13^th century recipe, it is a mix between Caerphilly and Wensleydale, although it is distinctly creamier, and has an edible jacket of nettle leaves. This gives the cheese a herby flavour as well as an attractive appearance which is very popular on our cheese wedding cakes! It has a beautiful delicate, grassy flavour, with notes of mushroom and asparagus in the rind. The nettles are harvested in May and frozen for use throughout the year. The cheese is made from the pasteurised milk of a mixed herd of Ayrshire, Jersey and Friesian cows.

Great with Pecorino and Parmesan, but we think they are a good cracker for all cheeses.

Or great on their own.

Kitchen Garden hand-made chutney is packed full of fruit and spices to accompany a variety of cheeses.

Perfect for Christmas!

Pacifico Sur Cabernet Sauvignon, 2010, Chile. Central Valley Estate Grown. Ripe and plummy. 375ml, 1/2 bottle. 14% abv.