The award-winning Berkswell cheese takes at least four months to mature, and is sweet and nutty, with a hint of caramel and a definite tang on the finish.
Similar in style to a Pecorino, Berkswell is a magnificent-looking cheese. (Its distinctive ridges and unusual markings on the rind are the result of draining the curd in normal domestic kitchen colanders!)
It is made at the magnificent and aptly named, 16th-century Ram Hall in the Heart of England. It has been made there since 1989 from the milk of the Fletchers’ own flock of East Friesland ewes.
Stephen Fletcher takes great pains to look after his sheep, and, by lambing them in succession, has largely overcome the problem of the massive dip in milk production that arises when the ewes all dry up at once.
2017 Artisan Cheese Awards – Supreme Champion, Best English Cheese, Best Farmhouse Cheese
*A whole Berkswell weighs approximately 2.5kg. Smaller weights are a cut of a whole cheese.