Tuppence Crowned The People’s Cheese 2026
The People’s Cheese 2026 competition, organised by The Real Cheese Project, reached its thrilling final on 17 October at St Mary’s Church in Wendover, Buckinghamshire. Hundreds of cheese lovers attended in person, with hundreds more watching the live event online across the UK, celebrating the very best of British cheesemaking.
Four fantastic cheesemakers battled it out for the title: Allan Latter of Pencw Dairy in Fishguard with Jemima Wild Filly, Roger Longman of White Lake Cheese in Somerset with Tuppence, Carwyn Adams of Caws Cenarth in Wales with Carreg Las, and Jake Goldstein of Primrose Creamery on Nottinghamshire’s Welbeck Estate with Lindley.
HERO CHEESE Westcombe Cheddar
A landscape of flavour
For Tom Carver, Westcombe isn’t simply a dairy farm that makes cheddar. It is a living system: soil, grass, cows, milk, people and cheese, all connected.
Cheesemaking at Westcombe dates back to 1879, although the farm has never stood still. Tom’s father joined the original family business more than 50 years ago, and over the decades the farm has constantly adapted. There have been pigs, different forms of dairy production and, at various points, some fairly extraordinary diversifications.
CORK & CURD Genetie ‘Illuminé’ Bourgogne Chardonnay
The word Genetie engraved in the footstone of a pillar that holds up a 16th century house situated at the heart of an estate in Southern Burgundy and inspired the name of this wine. The fruit is sourced from a 12 hectare plot in the village of Bussières, in the south of the Mâconnais region and the average vine age is about 40 years old.
HERO CHEESE Lindley
Jake Goldstein came to cheesemaking by an unconventional route. Before Covid, he ran bars and restaurants. When that world collapsed, he found himself reassessing what he actually wanted to do. After a brief spell training as a butcher, he turned to something he already loved: cheese.
HERO CHEESE Bell End Blue
At the foot of Chimney Bank, one of England’s steepest hills, sits Abbey Farm Cottage: a ten-acre farm on the edge of Rosedale Abbey in the North York Moors. Suzie and Jonty have built an extraordinary small-scale cheesemaking business around a herd of 150 goats.
CORK & CURD Paradis Rosé, Domaine Preignes le Vieux
Situated between Béziers and Agde, on the sunny terraces of the Languedoc, Domaine Preignes le Vieux, an exceptional property that has been making wines for five generations –family have been making wine here since 1905, with Jérôme Vic the current winemaker. In the heart of stunning Mediterranean landscapes, the site boasts a unique heritage, with Roman remains on the site and a stunning 13th century Chateau. Nowadays their wines embody both tradition and innovation.
HERO CHEESE Ewe-Blu-Ty
Where Curiosity Became Craft
Some cheesemakers inherit generations of family knowledge. Others spend years learning in famous dairies. For Peter at Book & Bucket Cheese, it all began with something much simpler: a book and a bucket.
Managing a dairy producing yoghurt, Peter became increasingly frustrated watching surplus sheep's milk being frozen, knowing the quality would never be quite the same once thawed. Rather than accept waste, he decided to teach himself cheesemaking. Armed with books, advice from respected mentors including Charlie Turnbull and Ken McFarland, and plenty of determination, he started experimenting.
"The rest is bucket science," they joked.
CORK & CURD Moscato d’Asti
Delicately sweet, but not cloying and slightly sparkling. Known for its low alcohol and characteristic taste of fresh grapes, stone fruit and blossom florals. Moscato d’Asti is a wonderfully versatile wine, that is perfect for summer afternoons, aperitifs on the terrace and as an end to a meal, ready to accompany the great cheeses, fruit and panettone. Above all, Moscato d’Asti is an authentic wine that expresses a clear sense of place and, as such, it should not be overlooked.
HERO CHEESE Thelma’s Caerffili
This month, The Real Cheese Project’s Cheese of the Month is Thelma’s Caerffili from Caws Cenarth in West Wales — a cheese that represents far more than a recipe. It is a link to Welsh food heritage, a celebration of farmhouse cheesemaking, and a reminder that some traditions are worth fighting to preserve.
When I sat down with Carwyn Adams, one of Britain’s most respected farmhouse cheesemakers, I expected to talk about success. Instead, we talked about grass, milk, family and the responsibility of looking after something that almost disappeared.
CORK & CURD Gavroche Grenache-Syrah
Cheese – Thelma’s Caerffily
Wine – Gavroche Grenache-Syrah, Chateau L‘Ermite d’Auzan
Price - £13.00 per bottle
The original estate was founded in the 11th Century by the hermits of Sainte Cécile d’Estagel Abbaye and it made wine for pilgrims en route to Santiago de Compostella. The modern iteration of this historic estate encompasses 80 hectares of glorious, south-facing vineyards planted on sandstone soils and strewn with smooth pebbles from the Durance river valley.
The People’s Cheese 2026
Nearly 500 People Came Together to Judge Britain’s Best New Cheese
The People’s Cheese 2026 Heats at Chiswick Cheese Market
Something very special happened on May 17th at Chiswick Cheese Market.
Nearly 500 members of the public joined us for the heats of People’s Cheese, our search for Britain and Ireland’s Best New Cheese, and what unfolded was one of the most exciting, emotional and fiercely close competitions we’ve ever hosted.
Supported brilliantly by Chiswick Cheese Market, the day saw hundreds of people tasting, debating, discussing and championing real cheese made by real people. This wasn’t a panel of industry judges hidden behind closed doors. This was the public deciding. Farmers, food lovers, chefs, families, cheesemongers and curious first timers all taking part together.
And the response was overwhelming.
In fact, demand was so high that we ran out of voting slips twice.
Throughout the day we hosted three separate heats, each showcasing very different styles of cheese. We began with softer, more delicate cheeses before moving into harder and washed rind styles. The final heat celebrated blues and flavoured cheeses and every single tasting sparked passionate discussion amongst the crowd.
What became immediately clear was just how close the competition was.
Across all categories, many cheeses were separated by only one or two percent. The standard was extraordinary and choosing the finalists became incredibly tense right until the final count.
After hundreds upon hundreds of votes were cast, four cheeses emerged as this year’s finalists.
HERO CHEESE Buffalicious Boconccini Mozzarella
Buffalicious: Britain’s Buffalo Mozzarella With Soul
In Somerset, a small herd of water buffalo is quietly challenging what British cheese can be.
Buffalicious began, like many great farming stories, with a problem. Jonathan’s father was running a small dairy farm at a time when conventional milk production had become brutally hard. Quotas, poor returns and supermarket pressure meant there was little joy, and even less money, in producing milk from black and white cows.
So he changed course.
CORK & CURD Falanghina Montecalvo
Falanghina is an ancient Italian grape, believed to be of Greek origin. Records show that Falanghina was likely to be the grape variety behind Falernian, the most famous wine of Roman antiquity. Most Falanghina is grown in Campania, in southern Italy. The vines thrive in the porous volcanic soils around Mount Vesuvius and the warm Mediterranean climate.
HERO CHEESE St Helena
In a quiet corner of Norfolk, St Helena emerges not as a product of force, but of restraint. Born from a moment of inspiration in the Auvergne, where market tables in Saint Nectaire sparked an idea, this cheese is a study in minimal intervention and maximum attention. It is milk led, raw, and alive, guided rather than controlled.
CORK & CURD Salto, Sangiovese
Aprils Wine Pairing – Salto Sangiovese, Ilauri, chosen by Katherine Dart MW
Chosen to perfectly pair with St Helena. Made by Blake Bowden at St Jude Cheese Dairy.
HERO CHEESE Wakebridge
Wakebridge Manor Creamery feels like a dairy that’s happy to be young. Curious, slightly exposed, willing to learn in public. It’s cheesemaking shaped by land, season and sheep, with just enough science and confidence to let things happen. And honestly, that’s exactly how great cheese should be made. It is a real pleasure to be championing this brilliant cheese and helping more people find it.
HERO CHEESE Royal Basset Blue
CORK & CURD Benjamin Malbec, Nieto Senetiner
Benjamin was released in the Argentine market when Bodega Nieto Senetiner decided to extend the family portfolio, bringing youth and freshness to their range of Malbecs.
CORK & CURD Monte Schiavo Ruviano
HERO CHEESE Golden Saye
WHAT’S IN A NAME? THE STORY BEHIND “GOLDEN SAYE”
The name Golden Saye holds the keys to its identity.
“Golden” reflects the cheese’s rich yellow paste, the natural result of Guernsey milk’s high beta-carotene content.
“Saye” honours Stratfield Saye, where the Duke of Wellington’s pedigree Guernsey herd grazed in the late 1980s. This is where Jake’s Mum and Village Maid founder Anne Wigmore, first experimented with Guernsey milk cheesemaking. Those early experiments eventually led to the creation of Golden Saye.