Stonebeck Wensleydale

Stonebeck Wensleydale

This cheese truly reflects the biodiversity of its origins both in terms of the breed of cows and the pastures they graze. When young, the cheeses are fresh with a juicy complexity. As they mature, the flavours deepen and have a long and complex finish. 

*Please note this is a seasonal cheese and is not available year round. 

Portion
Regular price £15.50
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  • Spend over £39.50 to receive free delivery (England, Wales & Central Scotland)

Standard delivery is free to most postcodes in the UK for orders over £39.50. Click here for a list of postcodes where additional delivery charges apply.

For orders under £39.50, standard delivery is £8.00.

Collection from our London shops is free - choose Shop Collection at checkout.

Choose your preferred delivery date at checkout. As we use third party couriers (typically DPD) we cannot guarantee the arrival day of your order but we will do our best to ensure that it arrives as close as possible to your chosen date. To be sure it arrives in time, we recommend choosing a date a couple of days ahead of when you would like to eat your cheese. 

milk type
Cow

ingredients
Raw Cow's MILK, Salt, Cheese Cultures, Animal Rennet

coagulant
Animal Rennet

milk treatment
Raw

location
Nidderdale, Yorkshire

milk source
Own herd

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milk type
Cow

ingredients
Raw Cow's MILK, Salt, Cheese Cultures, Animal Rennet

coagulant
Animal Rennet

milk treatment
Raw

location
Nidderdale, Yorkshire

milk source
Own herd

cheesemakers
Andrew and Sally Hattan

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Stonebeck is made on a truly biodiverse farm in a remote part of North Yorkshire. To get to the farm, we park in the nearby village and the Hattans collect us in their four-wheel drive.

Background

Andrew and Sally Hattan’s Low Riggs farm is located in the Yorkshire Dales, where for hundreds of years the production of Wensleydale-style cheese played a vital role in the rural economy. The Hatt...

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Andrew and Sally Hattan’s Low Riggs farm is located in the Yorkshire Dales, where for hundreds of years the production of Wensleydale-style cheese played a vital role in the rural economy. The Hattan family are first generation farmers. When they embarked on their quest to make a farmhouse Wensleydale cheese of their own, they made use of cheesemaking books from 1917 and 1947, together with interviews with a 101-year-old local cheesemaker. The milk for the cheese comes from a herd of just 30 Northern Dairy Shorthorn cows – a breed native to the Dales that is critically endangered. They subsist on almost exclusively pasture and are milked just once a day between Spring and Autumn which makes this cheese truly seasonal. The cheese is truly handmade: the curds cut and hung up in cloth bags to allow the whey to drain away, after which they are milled by a hand-turned peg mill ready for moulding and pressing in a traditional cast iron press. The next day the cheese is bound with locally made, unbleached calico and hand-sewn with a long stitch before being pressed for a final time before maturation. Over the course of the ensuing weeks, the rind will develop and the characteristically buttery flavour will intensify. The Hattans are eventually hoping to encourage the natural blueing reminiscent of the pre-war Wensleydale that inspired their recipe, though this aspect of maturation is still at the trial phase.

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Our Work

Andrew and Sally Hattan came to visit Neal’s Yard Dairy when they were just beginning their cheesemaking journey, and we have worked with them every step of the way: from helping to develop the rec...

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Andrew and Sally Hattan came to visit Neal’s Yard Dairy when they were just beginning their cheesemaking journey, and we have worked with them every step of the way: from helping to develop the recipe for their cheese, to the decision to call it a Wensleydale – a name they were reluctant to use at first, but which we convinced them to adopt on account of the cheese’s geography and style.

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FAQs

As a general rule of thumb, we would recommend roughly between 100 and 150 grams per person for after dinner, and a bit more if cheese is the focus of the meal. If you are buying cheese to serve over a couple of days or as part of a buffet, it is advisable to buy a few larger pieces. This will both look better and keep better than many small bits. To help visualise weights, a good tip is to consider that a regular supermarket pat of butter weighs between 200 and 250 grams. If you are at all unsure please give us a call for some advice.

The best option is to keep your cheese wrapped in its paper within a box in the fridge. This will prevent the cheese from drying out and absorbing other flavours. Your cheese will arrive wrapped in waxed cheese paper, which achieves the best possible balance between maintaining humidity around the cheese and allowing it to breathe. We are happy to provide some free extra cheese paper, just search for "cheese paper" and add it to your basket. We don't recommend cling film or foil as it can cause the cheese to sweat which will negatively affect the flavour.

Customer Reviews

Based on 14 reviews
71%
(10)
29%
(4)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
C
Cathy Swan
Great cheese

Love this Wensleydale, great taste and texture. Very nearly as good as Hawes Wensleydale.

T
Trevor Pollard
Fine Cheese

Whilst I would rate this cheese highly I look forward to a more mature piece to compare. I like this cheese with a light unflavoured biscuit.

R
Rachel McSorley
Delicious

Lovely seasonal cheese

C
Cecilia Jephcott
Tasty

Very nice tasty cheese . Texture is not as crumbly as other Wensleydale but very nice

J
Jonathan Canty

An amazing treat

Thank you so much for your review Jonathan - we appreciate it.
Kind regards,
NYD