Supplier Spotlight: Wookey Hole Cave Aged Farmhouse Cheddar

There’s over 40 years’ experience in every truckle of Ford Farm’s Wookey Hole Cave Aged Cheddar 

From their base on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, the Ford Farm team produce three quarters of the UK volume of traditional farmhouse cheddar. They use traditional methods, sourcing their milk from local, free-range dairy herds before transforming it into rounds of tangy West Country Cheddar. 

Much of this process is done by hand, from the turning of the curds to the pressing of the cheddars into cylindrical moulds, before bandaging them in cheesecloth. So far, so normal… until the cheeses are then carried (by hand of course!) down into the Wookey Hole Caves in the Mendip Hills.  

Now, you may be wondering why the Caves are so important. The answer is that with their constant temperature and humidity, they offer ideal conditions for storing and ageing cheddar, whilst the porous nature of the cheese enables it to take on the distinctive earthy and nutty flavours from the atmosphere. 

From cave to table 

Thanks to this commitment to using local milk and traditional methods, Ford Farm Cheddar has been awarded coveted Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) accreditation.    

Wookey Hole Cave Aged Cheddar is uniquely earthy and nutty whilst retaining a certain sweetness. Its robust flavour means it pairs brilliantly with a full-bodied Bordeaux or Cabernet Sauvignon.  

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