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“Blue Cheese” – to many people, this phrase is enough to send a shiver down the spine. I think we can all say we’ve had a bad experience with blue cheese at some point within our lives. Often this particular variety of the dairy delight that is usually so loved can leave a bad taste in the mouth. At Love Cheese, we want to rid Blue Cheese of it’s ‘rotten’, ‘smelly socks’ reputation once and for all! Lucky for us, there is one brave cheese set to take up the challenge and convert the naysayers…

Introducing: Montagnolo Affine

So why is this cheese hailed as a ‘converter’ for those who are usually not a fan of the blue stuff? Well, for starters, it has the texture of the much loved cheese variety brie. It is a triple crème soft cheese which gives it that lovely, melt in the mouth consistency. The blue cheese element of this variety is subtle, but also makes for a pleasantly sharp taste in the mouth – perfect for those who are usually put off by the strength of many blue cheeses but still want to experience a uniquely delicious flavour.  As an initial blue cheese hater myself, I was very pleasantly surprised by the taste experience this cheese offers!

Here is Harry slicing up some of our finest Montagnolo Affine right here in our York shop…

Winner of the Supreme Champion award at the 2013 International Cheese Awards, this really isn’t a cheese to sleep on. 

So, why not pop into our cosy cafe to be converted yourself, perhaps with a glass of wine on the side… just ask Harry for some of his top pairing recommendations. Don’t forget we also have a beautiful outdoor seating area with stunning views of the York walls and the Minster – the perfect place to relax as the days get warmer and longer! Alternatively, you can also order Montagnolo Affine – along with a huge variety of other cheeses – to be delivered to your door, just click here to make your purchase!

We hope to hear from you very soon!

First up was a walk around the production rooms and maturing rooms guided by the lovely Maggie! We were told all about how the farm came into existence and has built into the well renowned dairy farm it is now. She showed us their old wooden cheese press which has been there since the begining having been bought second hand from the Netherlands. She explained that the cows get milked first thing and the milk is brought straight up to production. If they start just half an hour later Maggie said they could taste the difference and it’s already started to lose flavour in such a short amount of time.

Once they’ve made an pressed the cheeses they get taken to the maturing rooms, possibly my new idea of Nirvana. The rows and rows of Doddington, Berwick Edge and Admiral Collingwood to name a few stretched around all the nooks and crannies of such old farmhouse buildings retrofitted purposefully to house the cheese.

We regularly stock Berwick Edge and Admiral Collingwood in the shop but even we were surprised when we found out that they age just a few rounds of each cheese up to 18 months. We absolutely fell in love with the older Doddington, which is saltly and cheddary with a pineappl-y tanginess. It lingered most of the visit and so we had to take some with us!

Finally we got to walk around the wider farm and visit the cows from which the much respected milk comes from. Maggie showed us the care and attention the animals get to ensure the best qaulity milk is produced. Of course we had to take some home with us. And so now we’ve got our three favourite cheeses from Doddington currently in stock.

We will most certainly visit them next time we’re in Northumberland.

They’ve also got a wonderful Milk Bar and Cafe that do the best milkshakes made with Ice Cream from the farm!

The ancient recipe of Swaledale cheese began in the hands of Cistercian monks. They carried the inspiration for a peculiar cheese as they trekked from Normandy and settled in the Abbeys. They generously passed on their cheese-know-how to the Dale farmers and together they formed a cheese like no other.

The hand-made Swaledale recipe thus belongs to the Dales, and its secrets are known to very few people. Since then, the recipe has been passed down many generations: from Mr & Mrs Longstaff in the 1980s, to David and Mandy Reed, and to their children Sam and Louise.

The company now produces 1.75 tonnes of cheese per week and supplies to many independent retailers (like us) and wholesalers in the UK.

Last year, they were proud to announce a Gold win for their Traditional Swaledale Cheese at The Great Yorkshire Show 2016! This year, they won the bronze award for both the Blue Swaledale and Richmond Smoked award in the 2017 Artisan Cheese Awards! Coming up is a very exciting milestone: their 30 Year Anniversary! This is a very exciting event for The Swaledale Cheese Company and we wish them the best for their celebrations.

We are lucky enough to stock their delicious Swaledale Traditional, Swaledale Ewe and Swaledale Blue Old Peculiar as an occasional special guest.

Come in & try a slice! Swaledale create hard pressed yet very moist handmade cheeses: with cow and ewe milk. Why not try out the full Swaledale experience and put all 3 on a board together?

We love doing these shout outs to our creameries. We appreciate every story behind where our cheese comes from and the great relationships we have formed. Thank you to Louise and Sam for continuing the Swaledale legacy and letting us store your incredible products behind our counter!

Behind every slither of cheese, there is a story. We pride ourselves here at Love Cheese with our Artisan Cheese sourced from many creameries local to North Yorkshire, further in the UK and across the seas to France.

The cheese tale today starts with The Ribblesdale Cheese Company with Stuart, Iona, Malcolm, quite a few goats and two very special pigs, Penny and Snouter.

Here at Love Cheese, we stock some of their delicious goat’s cheeses such as Mature, Original, Smoked Original and Natural Rinded mature (nick-named Goatisan).

Click here to see their video on how Ribblesdale cheese is made!

Believe it or not, this creamery is just a two person show. Stuart and Iona have been working since 2006 to make Ribblesdale as delicious as it is on a cracker! Their little cheesery is tucked away at the bottom of Hawes, North Yorkshire and is a family business that began with Iona’s uncle, Ian Hill in 1978.

Their cheese journey begins with two goats, Victoria and Maude, named after Ian Hill’s mother. On being gifted some money to “please do something useful”, Ian chooses to go out and invest in two goats to everyone’s dismay! Luckily, these goats were in kid and were soon producing milk…and Riddlesdale cheese was born!

The herd grew and grew and Ian went from supplying to friends, to local shops and onto wholesalers.

Sadly Ian Hill passed away in 2006, but the legacy continued. Iona, his niece, succeeded the throne and have been pushing Riddlesdale Cheese into more success since then.

With not a crumb of cheese know-how to start with, Iona tells us how she moved from the world of law and finance into the realm of cheese-makery! Iona had lots of help from Lancashire Cheese Makers who were always on-hand for cheese-related advice! By 2014, the business has heavily evolved but still very much captures their authentic beginnings and the memory of Ian Hill, not forgetting dear Victoria and Maude.

Many exciting ventures lay ahead for the Ribblesdale Cheese Company. Iona has the privilege of judging on a panel at the Nantwich Show in July this year! We also have an exciting new Packaging Project arriving in store tomorrow from Ribblesdale – a professionally designed box, designed to grab & go, filled with hand-cut and hand-packed cheeses. Pop in and try a box on your way to work tomorrow for a slice of Ribblesdale on your break!

We hope you enjoyed delving into the secrets of where our cheese begins it’s journey…

We hope Stuart and Iona know how much we appreciate being able to stock their delicious products on our shelves to share everyday!

See even more of Stuart and Iona’s story here and more about the products they produce >>>> Click here to see their Product Range

Keep an eye out on the blog & social media for the next shout out to one of our beloved creameries.