Showcase Tasmania: Grandvewe Cheese

It’s no secret that I am a huge fan of cheese, any which way I can get it. I prefer the slightly more expensive cheeses however, and when you’re on a tight budget, cheese falls off the list really quickly. It’s unfortunate that way.

As big a fan of cheese as I am, I’ve come late to the game with sheeps milk cheese, only tasting it for the first time when I was at MoVida with Kathy and Mum. I was a little dubious, knowing that I dislike the overtly strong flavour of goats milk cheese, but I was not let down and it was great. Suddenly, I was a convert and quickly hunted down some sheep milk cheese at the Vic Market that weekend to bring home on the plane with me.

When I started my Showcase Tasmania series, I was adamant that I had to have a cheese maker on board and when I sent my exploratory email to Grandvewe, I was really hoping that they liked my idea and wanted to be part of it. Luckily my pitch worked its magic and this weekend I headed down to Salamanca Markets to collect some cheese and chat to Grandvewe in person.

I really would have loved to have had the time to head down to the actual Cheesery at Birchs Bay, but I couldn’t. By all accounts, the Cheesery is fantastic and you can read a little bit about it on the website here. Definitely something I want to visit one day!

I tried three different cheeses for the sake of my research and honestly, I love what I do. How many other people get to nibble on cheese and biscuits, all while claiming that they’re working?

The Primavera is a lovely crumbly mostly hard cheese with amazing flavour. This one was the huge hit family wide, with the children stealing all of the cheese off my plate and leaving me empty biscuits. It wasn’t my fault that I then needed to cut more to replace it.

I made Nathan try some, knowing that he would probably like it, but also knowing that he wouldn’t try it unless I made him. He doesn’t like specialty cheese as much as I do and you’ll never catch him eating brie or camembert for breakfast, let alone sprinkling a blue through salad. He looked at me after tasting it and said “Wow, that has to be the most perfect tasting cheese.” It was great, but also, then I had to share.

Note to self: Do not insist everyone else help you with the cheese tastings.

I was a little worried about tasting a blue cheese – I like blue cheese, but it can be overwhelming. I shouldn’t have worried at all, when it was sweet and sharp all at once and very very moreish. This was my favourite cheese of the three and I spent more time than I probably should have telling myself Just one more biscuit.

You’ve been warned, it is fantastic. Isaac was also a big fan of the blue cheese, having slightly more adventurous tastes than his father and sister. I was happy to celebrate the fact that he was eating something that wasn’t milk or jam sandwiches, even as I grumbled about sharing.

And finally, the White Pearl. I was warned by a friend to eat this cheese quite quickly and she was right. The shelf life is not long at all and so I would suggest eating it on the day that you buy it. I spread mine on slices of crusty bread and refused to share. It was divine, soft and creamy. If I’d had more salad ingredients in the fridge, I would have tossed it through salad leaves and cherry tomatoes.

Grandvewe is the only sheep milk cheesery in Tasmania and one of only a couple in the country. On top of that, they are certified organic, with a range of organic cheeses.

Their cheese can be bought online and posted to you (which I highly recommend for those of you not in Tassie!) or you can check out the mainland distributors here.

Now all I need to do is work out how I can expand my budget to include more Grandvewe cheese, without sending us to the poor house supporting my newly found addiction.

*photos from Grandvewe’s website.