Red Hill Granny's Blue

Back to the Mornington Peninsula for another cheese from Red Hill - this time it's a cows milk blue called Granny's Blue.

Red Hill Portsea Picnic

This is the goat milk version of Sorrento Picnic


Cheese Maker: Red Hill Cheese
Cheese: Portsea Picnic
Location: 81 William Road (Off Arthurs Seat Road), Red Hill
Cellar Door: Open weekends & public holidays Noon-5pm (except Christmas, Boxing Day & Good Friday)

While it may be shaped exactly like the Sorrento Picnic, once unwrapped the differences become more obvious


That white to beige rind carries a saffron hue that's slightly sticky in parts.


Once cut we observe a much paler coloured cheese. The taste is fresh with a slight tang, reminiscent of a mild cheddar. When we sampled the portsea and sorrento together on the cheese platter, we thought that this Portsea was the better of the two.

Red Hill Fingal Gold

I must preface this post by saying that at the moment, there isn't much stock available when in comes to washed rinds.



Cheese Maker: Red Hill Cheese
Cheese: Fingal Gold
Location: 81 William Road (Off Arthurs Seat Road), Red Hill
Cellar Door: Open weekends & public holidays Noon-5pm (except Christmas, Boxing Day & Good Friday)

There must be something about using gold wrappers when it comes to washed rind - discovery scrubbed brie and goldenbelle both utilise similar wrappings. Regardless of choice, there's always something wonderful about unwrapping a cheese like this, it's your nose that gets the first indication of what is in store.


The skin is a little fairer in colour compared to others but this is also a while off from reaching full maturation (use by date is september!)


This hasn't been out of the fridge for very long so it's a lot firmer than I would expect.


With aging you'll see that softening around the edges continue to move towards the center.



At the moment, it's quite mild in flavour but still has a lovely creaminess in the mouth.

Red Hill Cheese Bushranger Gold

If you are a fan of washed rind as I am, then you'll be most interested in this next cheese.

Cheese Maker: Red Hill Cheese
Cheese: Bushranger Gold
Location: 81 William Road (Off Arthurs Seat Road), Red Hill
Cellar Door: Open daily Noon-5pm (except Christmas, Boxing Day & Good Friday)

Bushranger Gold is a washed rind, goat cheese and that warning sticker is really unnecessary as your nose will immediately tell you that is one of those delightfully stinky cheeses. While taking these photos, even through the wrapper those heady mushroom scents kept wafting up to tease me.

Bushranger Gold is described as

A wild washed-rind goat-milk cheese with a delectable, complex cauliflower flavour, lingering on the palate. Mild when young; sticky and pungent with an explosive flavour when fully mature.

It is also made using vegetarian rennet.

I must include a caveat that the "best by date" for this particular cheese is March 15th - so at this early stage of maturation, the flavours are all very mild. It will be very interesting to compare another specimen closer to its best by date.

I would imagine that the interior would become a bit more runnier along with an intesification of flavours and aroma. Currently the skin is highly edible and though the interior is firm, it still is quite creamy in the mouth.

Paalo thought this had similar characteristics to a Taleggio and can vouch for its delectability.

If you are unsure of washed rinds then this would be a really good place to start and perhaps built up to a more matured version.


Originally published here

Red Hill Cheese Sorrento Picnic

This is another cheese from Red Hill Cheese - you can find out more about the dairy in my earlier post.

This is the Sorrento Picnic - a cow's milk cheese made in the cheddar style. It's sold as a distinctive mini-truckle, in both whole rounds and halves.

It's quite a thin rind - and depending on maturation state, it can go from a lovely white to a beige tinged rind as this one. The more mature the cheese the darker the rind.

Inside you'll find this beautiful golden cheese - it's semi-hard, quite easy to cut with a smooth texture, it certainly doesn't crumble when you slice it. You might be able to make out the lighter coloured core - it's still a month away from full maturation.

It has a fresh, sweet aroma, more asparagus rather than mushroom notes - smooth and creamy in the mouth with a mild taste that lingers. It does have a slightly acidic finish which adds to it's clean flavour.

This would be really nice served with fresh dates.


Originally published here

Red Hill Cheese Indulgence

Inspired by Farmhouse cheese-making in Europe, Red Hill Cheese was established in 2000 at Red Hill in the scenic Mornington Peninsula, here in my home state of Victoria.

Using organic cow milk and free-range goat milk from single herds they produce a range of seasonal cheese. It's worth noting that a vegetarian rennet is used and that they are free of artificial stabilisers and preservatives.

Cheese Maker: Red Hill Cheese
Cheese Type: Indulgence (Cow)
Location: 81 William Road (Off Arthurs Seat Road), Red Hill
Cellar Door: Open daily Noon-5pm (except Christmas, Boxing Day & Good Friday)

Indulgence is a curd style, cows' milk cheese - and sold in two forms, fresh and aged. When young it's snow white in colour but as it matures it darkens. It's skin moves from a soft wrinkle to having a more waxy appearance. Indulgence is described as a "sweet-lactic, creamy, fine-textured, wrinkled, traditional soft cheese." This particular cheese is the aged version.

There's a note on the side of the cheese alerting us to the fact that there may be some blue mould on the cheese - it's just due to the cheese-making process - natural floras are allowed to develop in the cellars.

You can see some traces of how white it is when first made - this is about 2 weeks from being fully matured.

I quite like it's compact barrel shape - there's some character to it.

Opened, it gives a good idea of how it's matured - the smooth, creamy line near the rind indicates a fully matured state - the maturation moves from the outside towards the centre.

There's quite a bit of flavour accompanying a sweet, mouth filling creaminess. There's also a definite saltiness to it's taste but that gives it a clean flavour.

All up, an interesting cheese with a lot of character and a unique taste.


Originally published here