Dorstone Goats

Charlie Westhead is one of the finest cheese makers in the UK.  Daily they collect goats milk from Gloucestershire to make Dorstone (and Ragstone), which are based on classic French recipes. This involves pre-draining the long-set curd (which helps give it it’s light, fluffy texture) and lightly ashing the cheese to produce a dark grey rind.

At The Courtyard Dairy the Dorstone cheese is further dried and then aged for only three weeks so it remains fresh and light.

Dorstone is named after the local Neolithic settlement at Dorstone Hill.

Charlie Westhead started making cheese over 20 years ago in Central London, before moving out to Sevenoaks (next to the Ragstone ridge from which another of their cheeses takes its name).  Several years ago they settled in Herefordshire and built a brand new creamery.  Their new creamery is extremely eco-friendly – all their power comes from solar panels, wind turbines and wood burners.  The wastewater is also disposed of and filtered through their own wetland system.

Did you know… Dorstone and Ragstone are also made in Uganda?!?
Cheesemaker Charlie Westhead’s son Conan worked as a volunteer in a children’s disabled foundation over there (Kyaninga). Here he helped to establish a goat farm to raise funds for the project and taught them how to make cheese they way he knows! The result was being able to produce cheese in the style of Ragstone and Dorstone…

Click here to read about The Courtyard Dairy’s recent visit to Neal’s Yard Creamery, discovering it’s history and how their cheeses are made.

Nutritional Data (typical values, per 100g):
Energy 998kj/241kcal
Fat 19.5g
(of which saturates) 13.5g
Carbohydrates <0.1g
(of which sugars) <0.1g
Protein 17.3g
Salt 1.1g

Weight: 1 x 180g cheese.