Coombe castle

Mature Denhay is smooth and creamy, and leaves a lingering, round, nuttiness in the mouth. Its prestigious PDO status guarantees that it is made according to time-honored recipes and methods.

Denhay has 1000 Friesian Holstein cows in five herds, selected for the high protein quality of their milk. Their welfare is independently audited by the RSPCA’s Freedom Foods scheme. In summer they go out to graze the grass in the fields. In winter when the ground is too wet and cold, they are kept indoors and fed on a diet of grass and maize silage, supplemented with cereals – mainly wheat and soya. While inside, every cow has a mattress on which to lie.

All the milk produced by the Denhay herds is used to make West Country Farmhouse Cheddar. Under the watchful eye of Head Cheesemaker Mike Reeve, Denhay Cheddar gains its flavor slowly and gracefully.   After the cutting, cheddaring, milling, salting and pressing, a first independent grading will take place at three months to ascertain the quality of the cheese in terms of colour, texture, smell and taste.  Denhay Cheddar is then carefully matured and monitored for12 months of aging until finally a beautifully balanced, long-keeping Cheddar emerges.