Dewlay ‘Rock’ at International Cheese Awards

The Cheesemakers of Garstang pick up top awards at this year’s International Cheese Show.
Awards keep on rolling in for Dewlay, with the International Cheese Show at Nantwich being the latest event for the Cheesemakers of Garstang.

Scooping up 18 awards at the show, the main haul of medals came for Dewlay’s Tasty Lancashire cheese with six awards including gold.

“Our Tasty Lancashire is matured for around 7-12 months so there is plenty of flavour and maturity,” commented managing director Nick Kenyon.

“Outside of Lancashire this cheese is very popular as people love that strong taste, complimented with the smooth texture expected from a Lancashire cheese,” he added.

Renowned for their Lancashire cheese, the Cheesemakers of Garstang saw the Creamy and Crumbly Lancashire varieties pick up a number of silvers at the prestigious show. And working hard on developing other territorial cheeses like Red Leicester and Double Gloucester, the Cheesemakers of Garstang also collected silver for those two varieties against some tough competition.

With more than 3,100 cheeses entered in the 58,000sq ft air conditioned marquee, the International Cheese Show sees competitors from across the UK and beyond pitting their cheese against each other in the two day event, which took place at Nantwich Show Ground from 26-27 July.

Judging for the event took place early morning on Tuesday 26 July, with judges including celebrity chef James Martin, Blur bass player turned cheesemaker Alex James, and judge at next weekends Garstang Show, Terry Hudson.

Richard Kenyon, Dewlay’s production director and cheesemaker Graeme Slater were also on hand to act as steward’s at the event.

Guiding judges during the competition and indicating what qualities to look out for in the cheese, Richard Kenyon teamed up with Alex James during the competition.

“Stewarding is a chance to inform the judges about what to look for in a cheese as we work with the product day in day out. I’m sure Alex picked up some tips on cheese grading, and who knows, maybe next time I will pick up some guitar tips!” said Richard.

From left: Nick Kenyon, Alex James and Richard Kenyon grade Dewlay’s Tasty Lancashire cheese.