Blue Cheese
Our blue cheeses run from gentle and creamy to properly punchy. Start mild with Fourme d'Ambert or Montagnolo Affine, go classic with Colston Bassett or Cropwell Bishop Stilton, or try one from Yorkshire: Swaledale Blue and Leeds Blue are both made in the county. Everything is cut to order at our shop on Gillygate in York and sent chilled, with free UK mainland delivery on orders over £55.
Bleu d’Auvergne Blue Cheese
A French blue that packs a punch. Enjoy an abundance of flavours, ranging from buttery and creamy, to an intense and tangy taste. This cheese is aged for over 4 months to enhance and showcase its interesting flavours and a texture that’s wonderfully creamy and smooth on the tongue. Named after its birthplace in Auvergne, this blue has become a favourite for many cheese lovers due to its complex aroma. Strip back the moist rind to reveal a delicious salty and pungent taste that we can’t get enough of! If you love blue cheese, you’re going to LOVE this.
Burt’s Blue Cheese
The flagship of Burt's Cheese. Here is a semi-soft with gorgeous blue veins running throughout giving it a marble like aesthetic. During maturation the cheese is pierced by hand to encourage the growth of these blue blotches and it's the punctures of blue throughout give the cheese its character and flavour. It is approachable with a creamy taste with subtle tangy notes from its blue veins and a slightly salty finish.
Colston Bassett Stilton Blue Cheese
A decadently rich and creamy blue cheese, with a smooth, lingering complexity. This is a classic stilton. Strong in flavour while remaining smooth and creamy, Colston Bassett is a blue cheese whose veins become more strongly defined as the cheese matures. A cool fact - this is the only cheese to be recognised by HSE to be safe to be had by pregnant women! So if you're pregnant and like blue cheese.. this is your go to. If you are not pregnant and like blue cheese, we still recommend it!
Cropwell Bishop Stilton Blue Cheese
Cropwell Bishop is crafted by hand using methods that have hardly changed since the 17th Century. With this cheese, you’ll be getting a traditional, hand-ladled blue stilton from Nottinghamshire! It's smooth, creamy and open textured. Expect a buttery and complex flavour with a slightly spiced yet long finish!
Fourme D’Ambert Cheese
Fourme d’Ambert cheese is a creamy, dense French blue with a mild, balanced flavour and gentle tang. This creamy, dense and subtle cheese is full of delightful savoury, sharp, smooth and tangy flavours. It is known as “the connoisseurs blue” for it’s unique mildness and balanced flavour. This cheese remains to this day the benchmark for a mild blue cheese. It comes with beautiful earthy undertones that couple with the sweeter creamy flavours that linger on the palate.
Gorgonzola Piccante Blue Cheese
Gorgonzola Piccante is a firmer, more mature Italian blue cheese with developed veining, a crumbly texture and a stronger, spicier finish. Creamy, crumbly and all around magnificent. It has blue veins running parallel throughout giving the cheese a full-bodied flavour and semi-hard texture. This blue cheese is made from water buffalo's milk that gives it a stunning fresh and milky aroma accompanied by a delectable combination of sweet, milky, sharp and acidic complexion on the tongue.
La Peral Cheese
A creamy, salty blue cheese with a lovely granular texture. While this is a blue, it’s not too acidic despite the strong flavour. It comes from the Asturias region of Northern Spain and named after a local village.
Leeds Blue Cheese
Made to a Gorgonzola recipe, Leeds Blue is another belter from Mario Olianas at Yorkshire Pecorino. Soft, creamy and rich, it has wonderful blue clusters throughout, giving a fantastic saltiness to the cheese.
Montagnolo Affine Cheese
A fantastic German cheese! Montagnolo Affine is a surface-ripened, triple cream cheese with a soft, velvety natural rind. This is a wonderful blue to try for those who may not be the biggest blue fans - as it comes with a delicious saltiness that's hard not to like. Voted the world's best cheese 2 years in a row we dare you to take the plunge and see what all the fuss is about!
Shropshire Blue
Colston Bassett Shropshire Blue, from the Nottinghamshire dairy behind Colston Bassett Stilton. Annatto in the milk gives it a striking orange colour, with blue veins running through. Creamier and more mellow than Stilton, and a lovely way into blue cheese.
Swaledale Blue Cheese
Creamy, soft and tangy - Swaledale Blue takes the classic Swaledale cheese to a whole new level. Swaledale blue is a local delight, providing a full-flavoured all-around blue cheese that doesn’t burn the palate but imparts a peppery flavour, giving it a stronger flavour than some of the more common blues around. All around quality, from the creamy complexity to the peppery finish.
About Blue Cheese
Mild, medium or strong?
Mild and creamy: Fourme d'Ambert, Montagnolo Affine, Leeds Blue and Burt's Blue. A good place to start if you're not sure you like blue cheese.
Classic and rounded: Colston Bassett Stilton, Shropshire Blue and Swaledale Blue.
Strong and tangy: Cropwell Bishop Stilton, Gorgonzola Piccante, Bleu d'Auvergne and La Peral from Asturias.
What to drink with blue cheese
Port is the classic, especially with Stilton. A sweet dessert wine works with almost any blue, and a big red like Don't Tell Gary Shiraz stands up to the stronger ones.
Blue cheese FAQs
Why is blue cheese blue?
A blue mould is added to the milk, and the cheese is pierced with needles as it matures. Air gets in through the holes and the blue veins grow along them.
How should I store blue cheese?
Wrap it in wax paper or cheese paper rather than cling film, and keep it in the fridge away from other cheeses so the blue doesn't spread. Take it out about an hour before serving.
Can I cook with blue cheese?
Yes. Stilton melts into soups and sauces, Gorgonzola goes into risotto and pasta, and Cropwell Bishop on a burger is hard to beat. Our best cheese for burgers guide has more ideas.
Can I taste before I buy?
Yes, in the shop. Come to the counter on Gillygate, Tuesday to Saturday, and we'll cut you a taste of anything.