The judges at the International Cheese Awards in Nantwich sniffed out a winner earlier this month in Dorset born and bred ‘Wookey Hole Cave Aged Cheddar’. The cheddar was awarded the title of best English cheese at the competition, beating off hundred other entries. The judges also awarded it two Gold medals as well as a Silver in further individual classes.
Wookey Hole Cave Aged Cheddar, first conceived as an idea back in 2006 by cheesemaker Mike Pullin, is now the biggest selling cheese in the Ford Farm portfolio with 600 tonnes being made each year.
Made on the Ashley Chase Estate in Dorset and matured in the caves at Wookey Hole, Wookey Hole Cave Aged Cheddar is a ‘traditional West Country Farmhouse Cheddar’ carrying the highly coveted Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) badge. In order to be able to use this description the Cheddar must conform to a set of strict rules. The milk must be sourced from local dairy herds and certain parts of the cheesemaking process including the ‘cheddaring’ and the salting must be performed by hand.
Wookey Hole Cave Aged Cheddar is a one of the few remaining cheddars to be pressed into wheels and bandaged with cheese cloth for maturing, mirroring techniques used as far back as the 15th century. Though block farmhouse cheddar is widely available, cheddar made in these bandaged wheels is a dying art and one which Ford Farm is fighting to keep alive. Mike Pullin, the Farm’s Managing Director commented: ‘Winning awards such as these are really instrumental in terms of helping us to keep this traditional style of cheesemaking in the spotlight. This particular variety has really struck a chord with both the cheese experts and the general public. It’s not just a gimmick. The atmosphere of the caves gives it a completely unique flavour.’
Cave Aged Cheddar Truckle – in Wookey Hole Caves