This week we'll be tasting some of our favourite cheeses from the Fabulous Sharpham Dairy in the beautiful Dart Valley in Devon.

There are so many wonderful British cheeses, and unfortunately we only have one cheese fridge! So how do we go about deciding which to have on the shelves? Lots of tasting of course! Before we opened we tried everything before deciding to stock it, and that included a lot of cheese (I know, it's a hard life!). The cheeses from the Sharpham Dairy we're real stand-outs for us, and we've been stocking them ever since.

The first of their cheeses we'll be trying is one of my personal favourites, the Sharpham Rustic flavoured with chive and wild garlic. The Chive & Garlic Rustic is a semi-hard, unpasteurized cheese made with Jersey cow milk. A cheese based on an idea from the cows themselves, who have a taste for the wild garlic where they graze. The cheese-makers add more wild garlic and chives to the milk giving a real savoury depth of flavour which beautifully compliments the creamy character of the cheese.

Our second Sharpham cheese is the Ticklemore Goats cheese. I have to admit, I'm not a great goat's cheese fan, it all taste a little bit too much like, well, goat. The Ticklemore for me is a massive exception. A pasteurised, semi-hard goat milk cheese, the Ticklemore has a beautiful crumbliness and a lovely mild creamy goats cheese flavour. Great in a salad, or just on its own.

So what to put with your cheeses? The Sharpham Rustic works well with Olive Oil and Sea Salt Crackers and Fine Cheese Co. Onion Chutney. The Ticklemore goes really well with Fine Cheese Co. Gooseberry Pureé, or try it with Rosemary Crackers.

Now, fabulous cheese obviously needs an equally fabulous wine. So what would we recommend with our Sharpham cheeses? Well, you can't go wrong pairing goats cheese with a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. We'd recommend our ripe and zesty Riverby Sauvignion Blanc, imported by the lovely Katie of Black Dog Wine Agency to go with the Ticklemore (if you're a Frodsham customer you'll know Katie as she works in the shop two days a week). The garlic in the Sharpham Rustic makes it trickier to pair with wine. What you need is some acidity, and again a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc wouldn't be a bad match. Our Chablis Pierrelee would also work well, or a dry Champagne would also work (any excuse!) .

We'll have our fantastic Sharpham cheeses on tasting this Saturday from 11-12!

See you soon

Joe x