Cheese please, Louise.
The counter at Cheese! Louise is always changing. With more than 750 cheeses produced across the UK, there's far too much good stuff out there to stand still.
You'll find a few firm favourites alongside an ever-changing selection of British cow's, goat's and sheep's milk cheeses, from hard and crumbly to soft and oozy, blues, washed rinds, bloomy rinds and plenty you may never have heard of.
Meet some counter
favourites.
The counter is always changing, but there are some cheeses I find myself coming back to again and again. Here are a few favourites, each with its own story, character and a very good reason to try it.
Old Winchester.
Lyburn Farmhouse Cheesemakers - Hampshire
A firm, mature cow’s milk cheese with a wonderfully savoury, nutty character and a hint of caramel sweetness. Somewhere between a mature Cheddar, Gouda and Parmesan, it’s one of those cheeses that earns its place on the counter again and again.
Why I love it: Big flavour, brilliantly versatile and made just up the road in the New Forest.
Sinodun Hill.
Norton & Yarrow Cheese - Carmarthenshire
A delicate, lactic goat’s milk cheese with a light, moussey texture beneath its wrinkled rind. Fresh, lemony and gently goaty when young, becoming softer, richer and more complex as it matures.
Why I love it: Delicate, beautifully balanced and proof that goat’s cheese can win over even the most determined goat’s cheese sceptic.
British cheese. That's the point.
Every cheese on my counter is made in Britain. It means supporting British cheesemakers, farmers and agriculture, while avoiding the unnecessary footprint of importing cheese from overseas. And with hundreds of incredible cheeses being made right here, there’s really no need to look very far.
Less food miles. More British cheese.
Sparkenhoe Blue
Leicestershire Handmade Cheese Co. - Leicestershire
A rich, creamy blue made with raw cow’s milk, with a mellow buttery sweetness balanced by savoury, earthy flavours and that distinctive blue tang. Full of character without being an aggressive blue, it has a lovely lingering depth that keeps you going back for another piece.
Why I love it: Deep, savoury and beautifully creamy, with just the right amount of blue bite. It’s everything I want from a proper British blue.
Baron Bigod.
Fen Farm Dairy - Suffolk
A rich, creamy cow's milk cheese with a bloomy rind and a soft, yielding centre. Buttery and mushroomy with savoury, earthy depth, it becomes gloriously oozy as it ripens. Often compared to Brie de Meaux, but very much a brilliant British cheese in its own right.
Why I love it: It’s a cheese with layers. Rich and buttery at first, then mushroomy, savoury and wonderfully complex. The kind of cheese you want to slow down and properly taste.
Hardys.
Book & Bucket Cheese Company - Dorset
A semi-hard sheep’s milk cheese with a firm, smooth texture and a beautifully savoury flavour. Nutty and slightly sweet, with buttery richness and a gentle earthy depth that develops as it matures. Approachable at first, but with plenty going on the longer you taste it.
Why I love it: That gorgeous balance of sweet, nutty and savoury flavours. It has real character, but never loses the delicate quality I love in a good sheep’s milk cheese.
Meet the makers.
Lyburn Farmhouse Cheesemakers
New Forest, Hampshire
From farm to counter.
One of the best parts of being a cheesemonger is getting out from behind my own counter and going to see where the cheese is actually made.
I visited Lyburn Farm in the New Forest, home of Lyburn Farmhouse Cheesemakers and the makers of Old Winchester. Here, cheesemaking starts with their own herd, with the milk travelling just yards from the milking parlour to the dairy where the cheeses are made.
From there comes the part you don't see when you pick up a piece from my counter: the moulding, pressing, turning, washing and waiting. Rows and rows of cheeses are carefully matured, developing their rinds, flavour and character over time.
Seeing the whole process first-hand is a brilliant reminder that artisan cheese isn't simply a product. Behind every wheel are people, animals, farming, skill, judgement and a huge amount of work.
And knowing that story makes me even prouder to put their cheese on my counter.
