World Cheese Encyclopaedia - Each Sunday learn all about a cheese in season.
This week Wigmore from the UK.

Country: UK 🇬🇧

Region: Risely

Made from: sheep’s milk

Pasteurised: No

Texture: creamy, crumbly

Taste: fruity, mild, sweet

Certification: No

Aging: 8 weeks

Wigmore cheese is produced by Village Maid Cheese at the village of Risley in Berkshire and made by Anna and Andy Wigmore from ewe milk. Comparable to Brie or Camembert, Wigmore is a traditional hand-made washed curd cheese, a method of cheese-making used widely across Europe. The washed curd process in which some of the whey is replaced by water during the make, helps give the cheese its characteristic oozing texture.

A creamy and crumbly cheese with a bloomy natural rind, it is an artisan cheese, which takes 8 weeks to fully ripen. With 48% fat, it has a mild, fruity and sweet flavour and a bit yeasty aroma depending on the season. During the aging process the rind changes significantly – starting out with a white Penicillium rind, and then developing brownish-mauve, even yellow, patching as it ages.

“Delicate and creamy ewes’ milk cheese with a gentle flavour. Made in Berkshire by the Wigmores. Its heavenly texture and delicacy makes this a cheese of real refinement.” – The Fine Cheese Co. Bath

History

Anne Wigmore began making cheese in the experimental dairy at the National Institute for Research in Dairying (NIRD) in 1984, having worked there previously for a number of years as a microbiologist. Soon afterwards, she decided to set up on her own, and, in 1986, Village Maid Dairy was born in a converted building at the end of her garden. Anne’s knowledge of cheese-making is highly technical, but she has a great feel for the cheese too. Gold winner at the 2017 Artisan Cheese Awards.

How to enjoy it

Pair with: Peter Jakob Kühn, Jacobus Riesling Trocken 2015, or a 2003 Pouilly Fumé Prestige from Domaine du Bouchot which has a lush, tropical, passionfruit character. Serve with a drizzle of honey.

Source: cheese.com, The Fine Cheese Co, Neal’s Yard Dairy, Village Made Cheese Co.

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