Cheese Tasting

Hunter Valley Cheese Tasting Guide

Hunter Valley is notorious for being a wine lover’s paradise, with boutique cellar doors and world-famous wines sprinkling about the region. But that’s not all that’s on offer, for what goes better with wine than a mouth-watering slice of cheese?

Hunter Valley Cheese

You’re spoiled for choice when it comes to filling your belly with cheeses, with an enormous amount of local and international cheeses to try for a truly blissed-out break with your partner or posse.

Smelly Cheese Shop

Open the front doors and instantly be hit with that stinky cheese odour. Their motto is ‘to travel all over the world to source the best cheese to bring to you.’ Promising some of the finest cheese and gourmet foods to match from both local sources and international. This shop has grown from a small storefront into one of the very best cheese shops in the entire New South Wales, employing over 100 staff and producing and importing endless amounts of cheese.

Cheese isn’t all that they make, with a range of cuisines that match perfectly with the stock. Tuck into a cheese platter that offers some favourite cheese blends, with locally grown olives, seasoned oils, and delicious in the store made chutney and spreads. Letting you blend the salty flavours with the sweet, creating a mouth-watering delight. Ask the staff for the perfect choice of wine to pair with your cheese, with an endless assortment of whites, reds, pinks, and sparkling. For a sweet treat at the end of your meal, try out the Hunter Valley Gelato Company which is attached, featuring traditional Italian Gelato made with a 200-year-old recipe and imported Italian ingredients.

As well as food on offer, there are actually experiences up for grabs. Learn the secrets of cheese-making by joining one of the many cheese lessons. Smelly Cheese Shop’s resident cheese expert is a real curd nerd, knowing everything there is to know about their favourite dairy product. Regardless of whether you only know the basics, or if you are a dairy expert, this class will give you a chance to discover the various ways in which they are made and matured, while getting to explore the complex flavours, with a local wine to wash it down. Your taste buds will thank you for this exceptional experience

Hunter Valley Smelly Cheese Shop

Hunter Valley Cheese Company

Match your favourite wine with your favourite dairy product at the award-winning Hunter Valley Cheese Factory. The shop was first established in 1995 when the region was in desperate need for some cheeses to compliment the growing number of wines offered. Blending together not just a food shop, but a working factory, a maturation area, a restaurant, as well a tasting room. Letting visitors see firsthand how this delightful cheese is created while trying the freshest ones in stock straight from the cheesemaker’s hands. Nestled within the Australian countryside, the shop offers you a day full of mouth-watering delights with a stunning view to go with it. The shop is famous for its handmade, preservative-free cheeses, ranging from oozing brie’s, vintage cheddars, or intense blue cheeses. Wander through the factory with the professional cheese expert, seeing the stages of cheesemaking first hand.

After this, recharge with a choice in your very own cheese board, where you can spoil yourself silly on meats, spreads, bread, oils, and of course your choice in cheeses.  With around four different cheese boards to choose from, ranging from a simple five cheese tasting to a lunch tasting plus which includes not just cheeses, but cuisines with dominant dairy products influencing its taste. Once you’ve decided on your favourite from the shop, grab a chunk of it for home, guaranteeing the next antipasto board you make will make your next cheese and wine night a huge success.

Hunter Valley Cheese Factory

The Best Cheeses of the Hunter Valley

  • Brie

    This oozing cheese melts people’s hearts, being one of the most popular soft cheeses around. Pale in colour, usually ranging from light cream to a pale yellow, with a snow light edible rind. Its best-served room temperature, with the texture turning a phenomenal soft feel when at its melting, creamy form. Working perfectly with sweet fruits and tart pastes along with a light cracker or thick bread.

  • Blue Cheese

    Although some may turn their nose up to the famous smelly cheese, blue cheese is a delicately within the Hunter Valley region. Also named blue vein cheeses, this kind of dairy product is recognisable from, you guessed it, its blue veins darting through the yellow cheese. The cheeses range in dairy milk, with cow’s, sheep’s, or goat’s milk all able to create this type of cheese. However, one factor that remains is the mould used, the Penicillium. This produces its distinctive stinky smell, that forms from the cultivated bacteria spreading about.

  • Cheddar

    Undoubtedly the most popular hard cheese around, with even the least loving cheese eater loving a slice of this kind. There are a variety of different types, ranging from supermarket cheeses to gourmet cheddars. Its smooth and thick texture creates an enchanting soft feel with pairing it to fresh fruits and crunchy bread.

The Best Wine and Cheese Pairing

  • Brie: Pinot Noir

    As brie is a light flavour, complimenting it with a light wine work best so as not to overpower each taste. A delicious glass of Pinot Noir works best and offers a stunning mix during the cool climate of Hunter Valley.

  • Blue Cheese: Riesling

    Having a sweet wine to pair with the distinct and pungent blue cheese creates a light after taste. If pairing the cheese with a glass of strong and rich wine, your tastebuds will be overpowered. So its best to do a Rieslings or even go sweeter with a Moscato.

  • Cheddar: Malbec

    A chocolatey Malbec or rich wine helps balance out the aggressive sharpness in Hunter valley’s aged cheddar.

Regardless of what you taste and where you visit, we guarantee even the fussiest visitor will be satisfied with Hunter Valley’s cheeses.

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