The finals of the Affineur of the Year competition took place this week in London, and we headed along with the two cheeses I’ve been nurturing over the past few months. My aim was to enhance the flavours already present in the cheeses rather than transform them into something entirely different, and I was really chuffed with the results.

I received the Quicke’s Cheddar back in August last year when it was barely a week old. I removed all the cheesecloth and rubbed the cheese with kefir from Nettlebed Creamery. (Ali and I have their kefir with breakfast every day – it’s really good stuff!) I then wrapped the cheese in fresh cloth and sealed it with some lard that Ali had rendered down from pork fat bought from our local butcher.

For the next month, the cheese was turned daily before it was time to remove the cloth and repeat the process. After that, it was left to sit and do its thing for nine months.

The Gorwydd Caerphilly arrived in March, and I followed a similar process, rubbing it with kefir before wrapping it in cheesecloth. When I unwrapped both cheeses on Tuesday, I was delighted with how they had developed. The Cheddar had become wonderfully buttery, with a slight bitterness from the rind, while the Caerphilly was fresh, bright and zingy.

I learned a huge amount from the experience and am already thinking about what to do with the next Cheddar when it arrives in August. In the meantime, both cheeses are available in Pangbourne if anyone fancies a taste.

Unfortunately, we didn’t come away with any awards, but the day remains one of the highlights of our cheesemongering year. Imagine a church packed full of cheese enthusiasts all having a brilliantly cheesy time. It’s a fantastic event, and I’d definitely recommend keeping an eye out for next year’s competition and grabbing a ticket if you can.

Our guest blue cheese of the month is Burt’s Blue, the star of the show at Burt’s Cheese, a brilliant cheesemaker tucked away in Cheshire. This soft blue cheese is lovingly handmade using local cow’s milk, and each cheese is pierced by hand to create the beautiful blue veins that make it look every bit as good as it tastes.

If you normally shy away from blue cheese because you find it a bit overpowering, this is a great place to start. It’s creamy and buttery, with just enough tang and saltiness to keep blue cheese lovers interested without frightening off the sceptics. It’s still quite young at the moment, but as it ripens it becomes softer and the flavours really begin to shine.

Things have been busy in Pangbourne this week. There’s going to be a lot of cheese making its way into the fridges of some very happy fathers this weekend! We’ve also had cheese towers collected for leavers’ celebrations, housewarming parties, football gatherings and even a secret wedding. It’s been great fun helping to get everything organised.

The next few weeks are looking pretty hectic too. Next week I’m off to Stafford to judge at the International Cheese Awards. It’s always a great day and will be a good opportunity to catch up with people I haven’t seen in a year. Then, at the beginning of July, it’s off to the American Cheese Society Conference. We attended for the first time last year and enjoyed it so much that we immediately signed up again.

I’ll report back on both events in the coming weeks.

In the meantime it’s going to be a hot one so keep cool (come hang out in the cheese shop – it’s lovely!)