Mont d’Or is made only between August and March.

Mont d’Or is made only between August and March.
© Staccato / photo provided

The glory of the autumnal cheese board: 3 cheeses perfect for the season

As the cheese calendar clicks over into autumn, Falstaff hunts down a soft, a hard and a blue at their absolute best right now.

The vacuum packs of block Cheddar and slices of stabilised Brie available year-round are apt to make us forget that cheese, true artisanal cheese, is a seasonal product. Being sensitive to the natural rhythms of farming and fermentation – cycles of grazing and milk production, and the maturation timetable of the affineur – means honouring age-old traditions in cheesemaking. It also ensures you enjoy your cheese at its peak. 

Autumn in particular is a crossroads, heralding the arrival of indulgent cheeses from late summer milk as well as matured cheeses from the previous year’s makes. As the weather cools and the nights draw in our palates change too, craving the comforting indulgence of fuller-bodied cheeses and mushroomy, umami notes in place of the fresher, grassier tastes of earlier seasons. Now is the ideal time to enjoy a classic of the alpine pastures alongside a rising star or two of the British cheese scene.   

Mont d’Or

France’s classic Mont d’Or (also called Vacherin du Haut-Doubs), is made only between August and March when the cows return from summer grazing on the high alpine pastures. The particularly rich milk of this time of year is used to make these small bloomy cheeses that are then wrapped in a band of spruce, or sanglé, imparting a subtle resinous quality to the funky washed rind. Inside, the cheese is all unctuous gooiness bordering on clotted cream. The matured cheeses start to appear towards the end of September and are eagerly snapped up by cheese aficionados everywhere. Switzerland’s similar Vacherin Mont d’Or is made on the other side of the Alps with thermised milk instead of raw.

Pour a glass of the local sparkling Crémant de Jura or the yeasty, almost sherried, Vin Jaune for an ideal drinking companion. Even fruity reds with sufficient heft and acidity to cut through the creaminess, a pinot noir or cru-level gamay for example, marry well. Mont d’Or can be baked whole in its box like Camembert. Paxton & Whitfield, the UK’s oldest cheesemonger, has a glorious recipe pairing it with garlic and thyme. Served with new potatoes, gherkins or just good bread, it can be a meal in itself. 

Lincolnshire Poacher

Made by fourth-generation British farmers Simon and Tim Jones with unpasteurised milk from their own cow herds, Lincolnshire Poacher is perhaps best described as Cheddar with added alpine flair. And it’s every bit as good at that phrase implies. The cheese is matured for 14-16 months, so by autumn you are eating glorious summer milk from the previous year. Perfect. They also make a vintage cheese matured for even longer and a surprisingly delicate cold-smoked version.

The umami character of Poacher pairs exceptionally well with the honeyed oakiness of a classic Sauternes or Barsac. Beer works very well too, especially one with hints of caramel or fruity sweetness. As Jane Grigson noted in her 20th Century classic English Food, Cheddar is one of the best all-purpose cheeses in the kitchen. As a cousin of Cheddar, Poacher is equally versatile. The producers aren’t purist about their cheese either, noting that it “cooks really well, is perfect on pasta in place of Parmesan, it makes a great cauliflower cheese and is really good for cheese on toast.” They even suggest it for a version of chef James Martin’s intriguing Savoury Bread & Butter Pudding.

Beenleigh Blue

One of only a handful of British blues made from sheep’s milk, Ticklemore Cheese’s award-winning Beenleigh Blue hails from the English county of Devon. No blue ewe’s cheese can escape comparison to Roquefort of course but here the saltiness is more restrained, and the crumbly paste has a pleasing nuttiness that contrasts well with a slight caramel sweetness. Although the cheese can be found all year round, it is as its very best in autumn and the beginning of winter when the fresh lemon minerality of the early season gives way to something altogether richer, more piquant and complex.

The ghost of sweetness in the cheese means it pairs exceptionally well with sweet fortified wines, especially nutty examples like tawny Port and some Madeiras. It also has a great affinity with fruit: slices of apple or pear work well, as do glasses of sweet cider or perry (a traditional pear cider, called poiré in France). Fresh figs are in season now and walnuts are beginning to appear as well: both make interestingly different accompaniments. Finishing with a drizzle of honey sets off the cheese’s spicy piquancy perfectly.

Ben Colvill
Ben Colvill
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