New Zealand Cheese Tasting
Last night I read this article about New Zealand’s 2025 Cheese Award winners. This morning we went to Moore Wilson’s, our local gourmet grocery store in Wellington, to see if we could buy any of these cheeses for a taste test.
We found five of them and, along with an Acme baguette, we were ready to go!
Our first taste was a sheep milk cheddar from Whitestone Cheese Co. called Monte Cristo. “Complex, waxy, balanced with a beautiful ivory paste. Delicious. Favorite of the day” is what the judges said about this cheese.
We agree! This was our favorite too!
Next up Meyer Cheese Maasdam. It is described as having a sweet and nutty flavour with a creamy gouda texture. We both thought it tasted just like Swiss cheese. I thought it would be good with eggs. My daughter was not a fan. This was her least favorite
Fronterra Cheese Co had the best soft white rind cheese, Kapiti Artisan Ash Rind White. We both loved this cheese and I did what my daughter calls “girl math” to justify it’s cost of $6.65NZD for 100g. We can get a decent brie here for $3.59NZD. Since the rind on this brie actually tastes good (we don’t eat the rind on the inexpensive brie) we are actually spending about the same for the amount we eat!
Another Meyer Cheese, this time their Smoked Gouda. It is naturally smoked and highly awarded. It is described as well balanced with a beautiful aroma. This was my least favorite cheese, although I think it will be good in a mac and cheese.
The Hohepa Fenugreek Cheese was not part of the article above, but it had a sticker that said it was a winner of the 2025 cheese awards and we were keen to try it. We agreed that this was fun to try but not something we would get again.
We still have a few cheeses from the article that we want to try – who wouldn’t want to try a “chewy, fudgy” aged gouda, or a garlic herb cremeux. Once we find these cheeses (and I hope we do) I will update this post.
What a fun way to start the day!
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