CHEDDAR GORGE CHEESE COMPANY
CHEDDAR, SOMERSET, UK
The Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company is the only remaining producer of the iconic and perennially popular Cheddar cheese in the village of Cheddar, Somerset. It has been devoted to preserving the traditional and authentic art of cheesemaking since 2003, and is an essential destination for all fans of the world’s favourite cheese.
Visitors can enter a special viewing gallery in order to watch the cheese being made – a process that takes seven hours and uses fresh unpasteurised milk that is delivered from local dairies every morning. The completed cheese is placed either in special stores or taken to a nearby cave and left to mature. Although the milder version is left to mature for only six months before being ready to consume, the more mature variants are left for two years in order to develop their quintessential and all-important fuller flavour. After watching the cheese being made, visitors can enjoy the finished product at a mouth-watering tasting session in the factory shop.
The Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company visitor centre is open every day between 10.30am and 4.30pm and entry costs £2.50.