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Wensleydale cheese was originally made by the French Cistercian Monks at Jervaulx Abbey in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, England over a eight hundred years ago in the twelfth century around 1150. The Monks who originated from the Roquefort area of France settled in England after the Norman conquest.

They used fresh milk from their own grazing herds in Wensleydale  rather than have it brought in from outside and it is this that provides the cheese with its own distinctive mellow creamy taste.  Both cows milk and sheep's milk was utilized to make the cheese, sheep's milk Wensleydale is softer in texture and whiter in color.

Wensleydale cheese, from cows milk, is still produced today according to time honored traditions and authentic historic recipes just as it was all those years ago.  The Wensleydale Creamery in Hawes, Northwest Yorkshire is now the capital of Wensleydale cheese manufacture.

The standard cheese has a full creamy flavor with a very slight crisp but clean lemony tang with overtones of fresh honey.  These slight overtones will tenderly sharpen with age and are hence stronger in a mature cheese.

Wensleydale cheese is a firm and slightly flaky cheese but not dry and crumbly, in fact quite the reverse, its moist and quite succulent with a melt in the mouth forte to it.  Slightly sweet but not that it is immediately noticeable and with no aftertaste, Wensleydale is perfect to accompany all fresh fruits including apples, pears, grapes, grapefruit and strawberries to name but a few.

Also nice with a glass of light wine, or a cold beer with a Wensleydale ploughman's lunch, Wensleydale is also great on rye or crackers.

There are five different variations of the standard Wensleydale cheese that the Creamery currently make and these are:

  • Real Yorkshire Wensleydale:  This is usually shaped into a variety of weights in a range of moulds from a small flat disc known as a "truckle" that is highly pressed, and preserved in wax, to several larger cheeses, it is a mild cheese with an acidic-honeyed flavor.

  • Mature Wensleydale:  This is a harder, more highly flavored version of the Real Yorkshire Wensleydale and highly prized by cheese connoisseurs the world over.

  • Extra Mature Wensleydale:  This is  the strongest Wensleydale cheese, matured for nine months for the best flavor experience.

  • Blue Wensleydale:  This cheese has rich deep blue veins running throughout and is produced in range of sizes.  It is highly flavored but not as salty as the classic British Blue Stilton and it therefore another favorite of the cheese connoisseur.

  • Oak Smoked Wensleydale:  This cheese is specially cold smoked to produce a luxurious cheese with a very special smoky tang and smooth texture.

ENTER WALLACE & GROMIT

Wensleydale has recently gained international fame and status via the very popular animated adventures of Wallace & Gromit, created by award and Oscar winning animator Nick Park.

Wallace & Gromit were first seen in their first movie A Grand Day Out  in which the hapless duo went to great lengths to re-stock their depleted larder of Wensleydale cheese after it had all ran out, in fact they went to the moon to search for more, in a rocket that Wallace had build in his garage.


"...Tastes just like wensleydale, Gromit !..."

At the time of the movie the Wensleydale Creamery was actually about to go into receivership as total bankruptcy due to declining sales was only a few months away.  The creamery had started to lay off their workers and about  60 skilled cheese makers from the small foundry sadly went to sign on as unemployed as the factory gates were due to close for good.

However, totally unbeknown to anyone, this was all about to change as the Wallace & Gromit movie had unintentionally promoted the cheese, as mentioned earlier, Wensleydale cheese, especially on crackers was Wallace's favorite snack.  Nick Park said he chose Wensleydale cheese as it has a nice name and one that suited his animated characters, he said he knew nothing of the Wensleydale Creameries struggle to survive and its impending demise.

Soon after the release of the Wallace & Gromit movie, there were thousands of people visiting supermarkets, stores and food shops throughout the UK  and indeed in other countries asking for Wensleydale cheese.  The Wensleydale Creamery was somewhat taken aback, as they were soon inundated with large orders from major food chains to supply the cheese, the quantity of Wensleydale cheese sales rose  100% and this figure didn't drop.

Today the Wensleydale Creamery is a thriving business, employing around two hundred staff and of course selling lots of lovely Wensleydale cheese throughout the world.  In fact over $3½ million - £2 million worth of Wensleydale is exported each year.

The Wensleydale Creamery later applied for a licence to sell Wensleydale with  Wallace & Gromit on the label to promote the cheese.  The sales of the Wensleydale cheese went into overdrive as thousands of Wallace & Gromit fans were buying these special branded cheeses and enjoying them as a special treat or even as part of their daily snacks, salads and with other meals.

   

Over 15,000 Wallace & Gromit fans bought Wensleydale cheese over the last Christmas period, presumably to be given away as a gift over the yuletide season.

The Wensleydale Creamery is  applying for a PDO  protected designation of origin certificate, which when granted will mean that any other cheese calling itself Wensleydale will be banned from retail.  This is because some other cheese makers have called their produce Wensleydale when in actual fact it isn't, simply to increase their revenues.  So if you would like to purchase real Wensleydale then its best to buy it direct from the creamery in Hawes or only purchase it if their label is on the product.

I too have bought and enjoyed Wensleydale cheese and have based my review on it, I  like the cheese quite a lot, its quite easily my favorite.  Wensleydale is available over the internet directly from the Wensleydale Creamery and I have provided the links below, so why not buy some , I am sure you will find it to be very enjoyable.


www.wensleydale.co.uk

I would like to add here that I am not affiliated with the creamery in any way, also, I am not on a commission of any kind, I have provided the link for people to buy the cheese and find out more about it if they want to.

Why not visit the official website of Wallace & Gromit too, just click on their image below.


"...cracking wensleydale Gromit...! "