Throughout the continent they have been making superb gourmet cheeses for centuries.
At Russell and Donnelly we have sourced some of the finest continental cheeses to create a balanced and tempting cheese board with a little of everything, from goats log to blue cheese!
Brie de Meaux
Brie de Meaux, one of the “kings of cheeses”, stands out with its smooth, voluptuous, but not quite runny texture and its creamy taste. Like fine wine, Brie de Meaux owes its complexity and inherent character to the unique combination of climate and micro-flora of the region in which it is produced – Ile de France. A gorgeous cheese and definitely one for the cheese board!
Flavour and Texture
The taste is complex with a nutty, fruity flavour. An amazingly tasty and delightful cheese
Pairing with wine: Perfect with Champagne, a red Bordeaux, Bourgogne (Burgundy) or even German dessert wines.
Saint Loup Goats Log
The Saint-Loup dairy, standing on the banks of the river Thouet that runs through the patchwork of fields forming the Gâtine landscape, is the French poster-child for ripened goat's milk lactic cheese.
Flavour and Texture
This goat’s cheese has a white bloomy rind and has a fine, smooth and uniform texture. It is very clean-tasting, typical of a goat's milk lactic cheese with a mild, subtle flavour.
Pairing with wine: Light and fruity Beaujolais
Comte Fort des Rousses (Organic)
Comte Fort des Rousses is made from the raw milk of red and white Montbeliarde cows in the Jura Mountains of France in Franche-Comte. The home-crafted cheese is produced in small, cooperative dairies, known as "fruitières” that produce the cheese only in summer time.
Flavour and Texture
This distinct organic cheese evokes the flavours of mountain flowers, butterscotch and spice.
Pairing with wine: Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, Gamay, Nebbiolo, Sauternes, and Riesling.
St Agur
Is a blue cheese made from pasteurized cow's milk from the village of Beauzac in the Monts du Velay, part of the mountainous Auvergne region of central France.
Flavour and Texture
The moist, rich, white cheese has characteristic olive green mould veins throughout and a smooth, creamy texture with a subtle mild spicy taste resembling a softer, and finer Roquefort in presentation and taste. It is not as salty as more traditional blue cheese, and its tangy and creamy nature are balanced so not to overpower with a sharp bite like Stilton, although this is dependent in the age of the cheese. Due to its double-cream nature, this cheese is easily spread and also melts well.
Pairing with wine: Cotes de Rhone Villages, Riesling
Old Amsterdam
Just like the famous wines of distinction, Old Amsterdam is now recognized with 'Premier Grand Cru Classe' and has won numerous European Gold Medals for gourmet cheese.
Flavour and Texture
Old Amsterdam is a Dutch gourmet cheese that is ripened to perfection and regularly checked for flavour. It is a gourmet cow’s milk cheese of exceptionally high and consistent quality, with a buttery mature aged Gouda flavour that cuts with ease.
Pairing with wine: full bodied reds, Cabernet, Pinotage, Malbec
This Gouda is made in Holland using 100% goat milk and matured for a minimum of 14 months.
Flavour and Texture
It is sweet yet nutty and has a delicious crunch to the texture.
Pairing with wine: Syrah, Riesling, Champagne
Grana Pandano
Grana Pandano is one of the most popular ‘Denominazione di Origine Controllata’ cheeses of Italy. The name comes from the noun grana (‘grain’), which refers to the distinctively grainy texture of the cheese, and the adjective Padano, which refers to the valley Pianura Padana.
It is a semi-fat hard cow’s milk cheese which is cooked and ripened slowly (for at least 9 months.
Flavour and Texture
It has a trademark dark yellow, hard, slightly oily appearance.
Pairing with wine: Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello di Montalcino
Parmesano Reggiano
True Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, or parmesan as it is known in many places, has a distinct salty flavour and hard texture. Produced since at least the 13th century in Italy, authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese is made of pure cow’s milk, with few additives
Parmigiano-Reggiano is one of the healthiest cheeses around. Only cheeses with the Consorzio markings are the true Parmigiano, and ours are hand picked from the premier quality section that are aged at least 3 years and with low numbers.
Flavour and Texture
Fruity, gritty powerful taste and texture.
Pairing with wine: Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello di Montalcino
Taleggio Colombo
Hailing from Italy's Lombardy region, this rich (48 percent fat), semi soft cheese is made from whole cow's milk.
Flavour and Texture
Its flavour can range from mild to pungent, depending on its age. When young, Taleggio's colour is pale yellow and its texture semi soft. As it ages it darkens to deep yellow and becomes rather runny. Taleggio is sold in flat blocks or cylinders and is covered either with a wax coating or a thin mould. It's excellent with salad greens or served with fruit for dessert.
Pairing with wine: Merlot, dessert Riesling or Sauternes
Appenzeller
Is a hard cow's-milk cheese produced in the Appenzell region of northeast Switzerland. A herbal brine, sometimes incorporating wine or cider, is applied to the wheels of cheese while they cure, which flavours and preserves the cheese while promoting the formation of a rind.
Flavour and Texture
The cheese is straw-coloured, with tiny holes and a golden rind. It has a strong smell and a nutty or fruity flavour, which can range from mild to tangy; depending on how long it is aged.
Pairing with wine: Desert wines, Riesling
Cave Aged Emmental
Made in massive 200 pound wheels from pure, unpasteurized cow's milk, this special "Swiss" is aged for at least twelve months in sandstone caves deep below the Santenberg in the Canton of Lucerne.
Using ancient techniques, a constant temperature and humidity can be achieved in the caves all year round, ensuring perfect development of every cheese Emmi produces.
Flavour and Texture
Unlike traditional Emmental (also known as Swiss cheese), this one has a dark brown rind and a unique, nutty, full-flavoured taste.
Pairing with wine: Beaujolais, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Cave Aged Gruyere
The Cave-aged Gruyère is matured for about one year in the secluded caves of Kaltbach near Lucerne in Switzerland. In the cool and humid air of these sandstone caves; the gourmet cheeses develop a dense texture with small salt crystals.
Flavour and Texture
The cheese is smooth to the touch with a slightly damp feel. It is soft, reasonably firm and crumbly. Its even ivory colouring varies according to the season. The flavour of Cave-aged Gruyère is refined, yet intense and you will agree with us that this is a cheese that you will appreciate.
Pairing with wine: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir
Raclette
A semi-hard cheese made from unpasteurized cow's milk.
Flavour and Texture
Valais Ralette cheese has a distinctive aromatic flavour, brushed brown/orange coloured rind, light-yellow coloured body, and fragrant creamy texture, with scattered holes and has an ideal fat and moisture ratio that prevents the cheese from separating when melted.
Pairing with wine: Beaujolais, Fondent, Chassalas
Tete De Moine
Tete de Moine means "monks head". This cheese was invented by the monks of Belleray Abbey in the Burnese Jura, and the brothers taught the local farmers how to make it. It is only made with rich summer milk and tradition has it that the first cheeses are ready to eat only when the first leaves of autumn have dropped from the trees.
Flavour and Texture
The rind can range from smooth and slightly oily to rough and brown in colour. The paste is firm, and creamy to straw-yellow, darkening as it ages. The flavour is sweet and tangy with musty wood nuts and mould.
Pairing with wine: Northern Rhone Reds
