Wensleydale Creamery: A Tour of the Cheese Shop Followed By Real Yorkshire Wensleydale and Ginger Cheesecake

As we all know by now, I like cake. However, there is something else that I like probably as much: cheese. If you told me I had to give one of them up forever I honestly don’t know which I’d choose (I do know that I wouldn’t like you very much anymore, though, that’s a definite).

In light of this, you can imagine how happy I was when I got to go to the Wensleydale Creamery while we were visiting Mat’s family for the Jubilee weekend. This is somewhere that I’d wanted to visit for a few years, and in that time I’d built up certain expectations. I’m delighted to say that my visit was as good – if not better – than I’d been hoping it would be.

Photo courtesy of Mat Robinson Photography

On arriving at the Creamery, you enter through the gift shop, which is an experience in itself. There’s lots of Wallace and Gromit merchandise (Wensleydale is their favourite cheese, after all!), pottery, and craft items, along with jams, sweets, teas, and – obviously – a variety of cheeses. After having a good browse around the gift shop (where I could easily have spent a small fortune), we made our way to the ‘Cheese Shop’, where you can have a taste of all the cheeses on offer and get some professional cheese advice before you buy.

Wensleydale Creamery Professionals, on hand to provide samples, advice and pieces to buy

I’m told that – while always popular – the Creamery isn’t usually as busy as it was on the day that we were there. However, considering that we visited on bank holiday Monday, this was to be expected. Unfortunately, due to the amount of people all wanting to get in and try the cheeses, I wasn’t able to photograph and record everything I tried. Also, I wasn’t honestly prepared enough for the number of different cheeses available to taste and buy in this one room!

Real Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese

For the sake of your sanity, I won’t give you an in-depth review of each cheese I tried, I’ll just give you a list and talk a bit about my favourites.

·      Real Yorkshire Wensleydale

·      Special Reserve Real Yorkshire Wensleydale

·      Wensleydale Blue

·      The Oak Smoked Wensleydale

·      Oakey Smokey Cheddar

·      Real Yorkshire Wensleydale with Ginger

·      Real Yorkshire Wensleydale with Apricots

·      Real Yorkshire Wensleydale with Pineapple

·      Real Yorkshire Wensleydale with Strawberries and Cream

·      Bishopdale

·      Ewes Milk Wensleydale

·      Abbot’s Gold Cheddar with Caramelised Onions

·      Abbot’s Bronze Cheddar with Balsamic Onions

·      Chantico, Cheddar with Chilli & Jalapenos

Normally, I avoid blue cheese. There’s no real reason behind this, I’ve just always thought I wouldn’t like it. However, if there’s one thing I’ve learnt since venturing into the food blogging world, it’s to try new things. Especially things you thought you didn’t like for no reason. So, I tried a piece of the Wensleydale Blue cheese. Described as “delicately flavoured”, I liked it, and would eat it again, but I wouldn’t want much of it and I don’t think I’m quite ready for a strongly flavoured blue cheese. All of that is just personal opinion, though, and I’m sure that blue cheese enthusiasts would love this. The Oak Smoked Wensleydale and Oakey Smokey Cheddar, on the other hand, I could eat all day long, as smoked cheeses are a weakness of mine anyway. They were both delicious, with a creamy texture and full of flavour.

Wensleydale Blue, Oak Smoked Wensleydale & Oakey Smokey Cheddar Cheeses available to try and buy

Wensleydale with ginger was by far my favourite of the blended cheeses; I liked the slight spiciness of the ginger mixing with the mild sweetness of the Wensleydale. However, the Wensleydale with strawberries and cream was also surprisingly good (how many people can honestly say they wouldn’t be at least a little sceptical of that combination before trying it?). The Creamery make a Wensleydale with cranberries blended cheese as well as the other flavours I’ve listed but I’m not the world’s greatest fan of cranberries so I skipped that one. I’ve heard that they also make a Wensleydale and rhubarb cheese; seeing as how I love both cheese and rhubarb (anyone who knows me knows I’m a bit rhubarb obsessed), this is definitely one I have to try at some point.

Range of blended Wensleydale cheeses (testers waiting to be replenished, showing their popularity)

The Bishopdale was probably my favourite of all the cheeses I tried and if I could recommend one to buy that would be it. On the other hand, I also really liked the Ewe’s milk Wensleydale – think really smooth and creamy in texture and fairly subtle but delicious flavour - and would say that if you get the chance, you definitely have to try it.

Bishopdale and Ewe's milk cheeses (you can see the Ewe's milk cheese had been popular that day)

After our trip round the Cheese Shop, we paid a visit to the ‘1897 Coffee Shop’, where I had a latte and a piece of the Real Wensleydale with Ginger Cheesecake. Mat had the same, although it took him forever to decide between the cheesecake and the cheese scones (“Have you seen the size of those cheese scones?!”). While I’m sure the cheese scones would have been good, the cheesecake was definitely the right decision: it was probably the best cheesecake I’ve ever eaten, a sentiment echoed by other people I was with who chose the same thing. The biscuit base was thick enough to balance the richness of the topping, the taste of ginger was noticeable but not too strong, and the portion size was definitely generous. If I had one little niggle, it’s that I would have preferred the pieces of ginger to be a bit smaller, as it spoiled the overall texture for me slightly. That’s personal preference though, and even with that I still think you’d be hard pressed to find a nicer bit of cheesecake!

Real Wensleydale with Ginger Cheesecake

In the last five years, Wensleydale Creamery – “The only makers of Real Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese in the World” - have won more than 250 awards for their cheeses. Having tasted it for myself, I can easily see why; they really do make the some of the best cheeses you’ll ever eat.

Before leaving – and after much deliberation - I bought some Oakey Smokey cheese to take home. Choosing only one took some serious control on my part; I could have happily bought one of every flavour! I’ve already decided that when we next visit I’ll be stocking up on some Bishopdale (I actually really regret not buying some this time, it was fantastic), Oak Smoked Wensleydale, Wensleydale with Ginger, Wensleydale with Rhubarb (if I can get my hands on some), and probably a bit of the Ewe’s Milk Wensleydale. I’ll also be keeping my fingers crossed that some kind of combination of these is available as a cheeseboard or hamper this Christmas (yes, I’m dropping some hints early this year!).

For those of you who also love your cheese but can’t feasibly visit the Wensleydale Creamery itself, there are many retailers and wholesalers. If there’s no one near you, then the good news is that they also have an online shop. And if you feel like you’re missing out on the Cheese Shop experience, take a look at the virtual tour.

To see more photographs of the Wensleydale Creamery and Wensleydale itself, see this week's post on Mat's blog.