Cave Aged Goats Cheese secures Super Gold at the World Cheese Awards

A goats’ cheese, matured hundreds of metres below the Mendip hills, has won a Super Gold 
at the annual World Cheese Awards held in Bergen. 
Cave Aged Goats’ Cheese is made by Ford Farm Cheesemakers in Dorset to traditional methods using milk sourced from West Country dairy goats. It is a deliciously savoury cheese, virgin-white in colour, with a mild, clean goat flavour and a firm texture, akin to a cheddar. Once made and pressed into 27kg moulds, the cheese is transferred to Wookey Hole where it undergoes a slow maturing process. It is the unique environment at Wookey Hole Caves in Somerset, where the year-round temperature is 12°C, that causes the cheese to take on its distinctive winning, rich, earthy and nutty flavours.
Commenting on this latest award, Ford Farm Director, Mike Pullin, said: ‘The World Cheese Awards is a truly global cheese event and one of the toughest on the competition circuit with 3,500 worldwide entries and 230 expert judges from 29 nations with the finest noses and palates in the business. To win a Super Gold is a real achievement and is testament to our ability to make goats cheese as well as we make our traditional PDO cheddar.’
Ford Farm’s traditional PDO Cave Aged Cheddar, for which it is most well renowned, was also a winner at the World Cheese Awards, winning a Gold in the Supreme Champion Class as well as four silvers.
‘Maturing our cheeses at Wookey Hole has really put us on the map’ continues Mike. ‘Our cheese cave is now a major stop off point on Wookey Hole Cave Tours where the guides educate visitors on the process of traditional cheese making. The 27kg cheddars are displayed in a dedicated cave with hundreds of truckles at any one time adorning the shelves. Each one takes on a surface mould which is integral to the ageing process and adds real visual impact, particularly the goats’ cheeses which have a beautiful white mould, almost like candy floss’.
A special Cave Cam has recently been installed in the cheese cave in order that the ultra-slow maturing progress can be monitored 24/7. This has also proved surprisingly popular with website visitors and offers the opportunity for cheese enthusiasts to watch and appreciate the slow, traditional maturing process. The Cave Cam can be accessed via the Wookey Hole Website at www.wookey.co.uk.
Wookey Hole Cave Aged Goat’s Cheese and Cheddar are available to buy at supermarkets, delis 
and cheese shops across the UK.as well as on line at www.fordfarm.com.

Cave Aged Goats Cheese Pairing Notes:  A young, fresh white wine with good acidity is great match with this mild, savoury cheese with just enough goaty note! Perhaps a Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire in France like Sauvignon Blanc, Vigneron de Valencay or maybe a Gruner Veltliner from Austria such as Lois GV, Weingut Fred Loimer.