Two cheeses from The Ethical Dairy, Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries and Galloway have won sought after Silver Medals at the Artisan Cheese Awards. The Awards, which are held at Melton Mowbry each year, recognise the very best artisan cheeses across the UK and Ireland.
The silver medal winners, Rainton Tomme and Carrick, are both hand made unpasteurised hard cheeses. Rainton Tomme is a rustic, mellow, well rounded cheese with a natural rind that is aged for between 3 to 7 months. Carrick is a curd washed cheese which is aged for around 9 months.
The Ethical Dairy, which is based at Rainton alongside Cream o’ Galloway, was launched earlier this year and makes cheese from milk farmed by the pioneering cow with calf method. This means the calves stay with their mums to suckle rather than being separated from them shortly after birth, which is the norm in dairy farming.
Director Wilma Finlay said she was pleased to see the quality of the cheeses being recognised at this national event:
“It’s always nice to win awards for a product you’ve made, and it’s particularly exciting to see our cheeses holding their own and indeed excelling at this nationally important event. These awards don’t take our brand or our method of farming into account; it’s all about the quality of the product made, so we are thrilled that our cheeses have been recognised alongside some of the most established artisan cheeses in the UK.”
More information about The Ethical Dairy and its products can be found at www.theethicaldairy.co.uk on Twitter on @theethicaldairy and on Facebook @EthicalDairy
