Milk
Warm from the morning.
Twelve hundred litres arrive from six farms within sight of the cave, milked at five and in the vat by eight. We warm it slowly to 32 degrees, add the culture and leave it alone.
Affinage and farm cheesemonger Somerset
Cheese is made in a day. We spend the years that follow.
Four thousand wheels rest in a limestone cave under the Mendip Hills, turned, brushed and listened to until they are ready. Come down and meet them.
Scroll to go underground
01 From the field
From the field
Curd
Set, then cut small.
Rennet turns the milk to a trembling custard. A steel harp draws through it, again and again, until the curd falls into corn-sized cubes and the whey runs pale green and clear. Smaller curd means a drier, longer-lived cheese.
The press
Cloth, weight and patience.
The curd is packed into cloth, set in its hoop and pressed under an oak screw. The whey weeps out through the night. By morning it is a pale, damp wheel that does not yet taste of anything much. That is our job.
In the vat0litres
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02 Into the cave
Into the cave
Down the hill
Into the cave.
The wheels ride in on an oak trolley, past the lanterns and under the stone ribs. It is eleven degrees all year, the air is wet with limestone, and nothing in here is in a hurry.
Time
The mould arrives on its own.
Nobody paints it on. Wild yeasts and moulds that live in the rock settle on the rind and begin to bloom: white, grey, blue, a little green. Watch six months go by. Most of it is welcome, and we know the difference.
Turning
Every wheel, by hand.
Moisture drifts to the bottom of a resting cheese. So each wheel is lifted and turned over, shelf by shelf, twice a week, for as long as it lives here. Four thousand wheels is a good deal of lifting.
Brushing
Keep the bloom honest.
A soft brush sweeps the rinds clean before the mould gets ideas. For washed rinds it is a cloth and cider brandy. For clothbound cheddar it is a gentle polish. The brush stays on the cheese we want to survive.
Cave air0°C
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03 The cut
The cut
The iron
Ask the wheel first.
A hollow steel iron goes in, twists and comes out with a plug no wider than a pencil. We smell it, bend it, taste it. Then the hole is stopped with the plug’s own rind and the wheel carries on, none the wiser.
The knife
One clean line each side.
When a wheel is ready, a long knife goes down along the radius, once on each side. No sawing. The cheese should part like it has been waiting to.
The paste
There it is.
The wedge slides out and the inside is finally yours to see: the colour, the eyes, the veins, the line where rind gives way to paste. A year in the dark, and this is what it was for.
Plug width0mm
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04 Your turn
Choose a style.
Then choose its age.
The rind, the paste and the mould on the wheel change as you choose. Drag the scene to walk around it, or close the wheel to see it whole.
Style
Age
- Rind
- Dark cloth, grey-green mould
- Paste
- Gold, crumbling
- Wedge, 200 g
- £7.56
or drag to turn it
05 From the cave
Take some home, or come and sit with it.
Everything is cut to order the week you collect or post it. Prices are for this concept page and nothing here can be bought.
Wheels
- Deepvale Clothbound2 kg truckle, 12 months, lard-sealed cloth£64
- Indigo Vale1.8 kg blue, 6 months, needled twice£58
- Hollowcombe Bloom1 kg bloomy white, 3 months£29
- Mendip Washed1.2 kg orange rind, cider brandy, 6 months£36
Cheese boxes
- The Cave BoxFour 200 g wedges, one of each style£38
- The Long Wait24-month cheddar and blue, oatcakes, quince£62
- Cheese for a Crowd1.5 kg board for ten, with bread and pickles£85
- Monthly Cave BoxA new box on the first Friday, twelve months£34/mo
Tasting evenings
- Cave tasting eveningSix cheeses, two ciders, in the cave. Fridays, 7 pm£45
- The TurningTurn and brush with the affineur, then supper. Wednesdays£70
- Vertical tastingOne cheddar at 3, 6, 12 and 24 months. Saturdays£55
- Private cave supperA table for eight, three courses and a lot of cheese£480
06 The small print
Cold, damp, and in no hurry.
- Cave temperature
- 0°C
- all year, from the limestone
- Humidity
- 0%
- rinds stay supple, nothing cracks
- Wheels resting
- 0
- cheddar, blue, bloomy and washed rind
- Oldest wheel
- 0months
- a cheddar, kept back to see what happens
07 Visit
Book an evening.
Wear a jumper and flat shoes. The cave floor is wet, the steps are old and the air is eleven degrees.
Thank you. We will check the diary and write back within two working days. Bring a jumper.
Find us
Deepvale Farm, Hollow Lane
Under the Mendips, Somerset
BA5 0XX
Shop hours
Thursday to Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm
Evenings: Wed, Fri, Sat, 7 pm
Sunday to Tuesday by arrangement
Get in touch
01749 555 0142
cave@deepvale.example