Milk : Cow’s (U)   
From: Somerset, England     
Aged: 12 months +

Pairing: Pairs great with your favourite Merlot or Pinot Noir

Montgomery's Cheddar is a truly traditional Somerset cheddar that is handmade by James Montgomery and made of the unpasteurised milk from his own Friesian herd.

He uses fresh, untreated milk to make the cheese 7 days a week, meaning the milk is at optimum freshness, and then uses an old peg mill, which is unusual now, to create the unique texture and appearance of the Montgomery’s Cheddar.

It is matured for 12 months on wooden shelves, and wrapped in a muslin cloth, which lends to it deep nutty flavour profile, grassy aromas and full lingering flavour from the slightly crumbly texture. A staple on any cheeseboard!

Milk : Cow’s (U)
From: Somerset, England
Aged:  12 months +
Pairing: Great as part of a ploughmans!

Along with Westcombe and Montgomery’s, Keens is one the the last traditional artisan Somerset Cheddars. This is because the criteria is so much stricter than with West Country Farmhouse Cheddars. Production uses raw untreated milk from their own grass-fed herd, with pint starters rather than powder, traditional animal rennet and a clothbound maturation of atleast 12 months.

The result is a strong, tangy cheddar with a mellow depth of flavour, with occasional blueing throughout. A standout traditional cheddar that is keeping it’s place firmly in the classic cheese world.

Milk : Cow’s (V)    
From: Lancashire, England     
Aged: 24 months
Pairing: Golden Ale or a Cabernet Sauvignon with a dollop of Red Onion & Port Marmalade

Made by Andrew Shorrock, a fourth-generation cheese maker from the little village of Goosnargh, Lancashire Strong Bomb is a traditional Lancashire that has been aged for 24 months, wrapped in Muslin and dipped in wax. It is strong, nutty and creamy with a soft, almost spoonable texture.

The Shorrock family started making this cheese in 1923 and Andrew made the bomb for a friend who moved to America, and has been making it since! The best way to eat it is to slice off the top and spoon the cheese out and enjoy with a glass of red!

Milk : Cow’s (U)
Aged : 5-6 months
From : Leicestershire, England
Pairing : Great with a strong IPA

Sparkenhoe Red Leicester is a classic territorial cheese, made by Jo and David Clarke and is the only raw milk Red Leicester still made in Leicestershire, to the original recipe from centuries ago. This is what makes this cheese completely unique. It’s the first of it’s kind to be produced on the Sparkenhoe Farm since 1875, and is so far removed from mass-produced Red Leicester you might find in a supermarket.
This cheese has an incredible depth of flavour – it’s nutty and buttery but with that slight farmy/meaty/brothy flavour that you wouldn’t find in a mass produced Red Leicester. The vibrant orange/red colour comes from the addition of natural colouring Annatto to the curds during production of the cheese. It is then clothbound, rubbed in lard and then matured on the farm’s beech shelves for the next six months.
This is an amazing cheese to melt – it makes the best cheese toasties!

From: Franche-Comte & French Alps
Aged: 18-24 mths
Milk: Cow's (U)
Strength: 2/5
Hardness: 4/5
Nickname: 'Gruyere de Comte'
Tasting: Fudge, Butterscotch, Toasted Hazelnuts
Try if you like: Gruyere, Alpine Cheese

Our Comte is the ultimate indulgence, and it is no surprise it is one of the nation's favourite cheeses. It is similar to Gruyere, but has a lovely grainy texture (developing with maturity) which when combined with the deep rich nutty sweetness reminds you of eating toffee or milk chocolate. It doesn't have some of the fruity tang you get with a Gruyere, but rather just deep rich burnt nutty caramel-style sweetness. We know most of our cheese groupies will have tried a fair few Comtes before, but we source ours from the best in the biz, so give us a go and see the difference. True cheesy heaven!

TCG Top Tip: Goes great with an un-oaked Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc or Viognier.

Milk : Sheep’s   
From: Toscana, Italy     
Aged: 10-12 weeks
Pairing: A small dollop of honey and a light Chianti

Whilst Mozzarella and Gorgonzola might be the most well-known Italian cheeses, there is no doubt that the most classic, traditional and authentic cheese of Italy is Pecorino. Made across Italy, every village and town has its own version and recipe for making Pecorino, passed down over generations. This Tuscan Pecorino, aged slightly younger than perhaps the most widely spread Pecorino, is infused with summer truffles, which gives the cheese an amazing dimension. There is the classic nuttiness, with a little bit of salt, and a little bit of milky sweetness as well, but then the truffles bring a lovely earthiness to proceedings. Aged for only a few months, this Pecorino is a lot softer than many as not as much moisture has been driven out of the cheese. But with the skill of the cheesemaking, and the infusion of truffles, it is still packed with flavour and complexity.

From: Bath, England
Aged: 5-8 weeks
Milk: Cow's Milk (O)
Strength: 2/5
Hardness: 2/5
Tasting: Brie-style, creamy, mushroomy with a hint of citrus

This square-shaped Organic cheese, made in the style of a Brie, is everything a good soft cheese should be. Softy, creamy, buttery and yielding, with a lovely bite from the rind. Whilst the centre of the cheese is very mild and buttery, the rind packs some more flavour, with mushroom, earthy damp vibes, and a teeny citrus/lemon tang hidden in there. It is a relatively mild cheese on the Brie-style spectrum, but beautifully complex, and not a cheese to be missed. (Their blue cheese won Best Cheese in World 2014!).

TCG Tip: Smear on a crusty baguette, and pair with a glass of Champagne, or similar sparkler. Heaven!

Milk : Cow’s (U)   
From: Franche-Comte, France     
Aged: 5-6 weeks
Pairing: Spoon it straight onto a Peter’s Yard Crispbread – done!

Aged for around 10 weeks and wrapped in Spruce bark, Vacherin is the Rockstar of seasonal cheeses – being available only from September through to March. It is made with milk from Montbeliarde cows after they have come down from their summer Alpine pastures to the valleys during the winter months where they are fed on hay and kept inside. The milk yield is a lot lower when they are inside which means the fat content of that milk is much higher. The results of this is Vacherin (from the French side of the border) or Vacherin Mont D’Or (from the Swiss side of the border) It is super creamy and sweet with added woody flavour from the Spruce bark it is wrapped in. It has a luxurious silky texture when fully matured and can be spooned right out of it’s box – delicious with a glass of bubbly or Beaujolais Nouveau

Milk : Cow’s (V, O)   
From: Nottinghamshire, England     
Aged: 12 weeks
Pairing: Matches with Claret, Pudding Wine, Port, Dry Sherry, Pears, Walnuts, Honey

Cropwell Bishop Organic Blue Stilton is an award-winning, traditional handmade cow’s milk Stilton that is made using methods that have changed very little since the 17th century.

During it’s maturation of 12 weeks, Cropwell Bishop Stilton is rubbed with salt to develop a strong and rich but creamy cheese with a lingering tang. The flavours are strengthened by the blue mould veins that run throughout. The texture is velvety soft but firm, and the rind is brown and wrinkled, with a salty kicker.

What on earth is a Wild Cloudberry you are probably asking? And why is someone making jam from it?

After what began to feel like a life long, Ben Hur-style epic, we reckon we have found the world's greatest accompaniment for Farmhouse Cheddar, British Territorials, and in fact pretty much any hard cheese available to the human race. And it isn't even a Chutney! It's a Marmalade! Red onions from Lincolnshire and Cockburns Fine Ruby Port have done to hard cheese what Christopher Nolan has done to cinema....made the unbetterable...better. 

An extra special mega match for many cheeses, none more so than bloomy rind cheeses like Tunworth. This particular truffle honey from Le Marche in Italy is simply the best. Not too strong or overpowering, and none of that synthetic truffle taste thanks to the real white truffle shavings; no fake flavourings! The white truffles are sniffed out by specialist truffle dogs, and then shaved and blended with local Acacia honey.

Sourdough Crispbreads. Simply the world's greatest biscuits for cheese...fact.

A truly epic accompaniment for blue cheeses, it forms a perfect foil for the saltiness and bite of the blue veining...much like Robin does for Batman. The brandy is from Ampleforth Abbey, using apples grown on the Abbey grounds. This is knock-out (sticking with the Batman analogy here) stuff.

Sourdough Crispbreads. Simply the world's greatest biscuits for cheese...fact. The Spelt and Fig are extra special with blue cheese.