Gourmet Providores has constructed a purpose built cheese room that stores all of our cheeses a their optimum temperature and humidity.  This ensures that our chesses are able to mature as they were meant to and, when purchased, are in prime eating condition.

Come in and try our large range of imported and Australian made cheeses from a variety of producers.

Some of our range (by classification) includes:

Fresh Unripened Cheeses

• Meredith Farm Marinated Goats Cheese
• Meredith Chevre
• Udder Delights Chevre
• Udder Delights Marinated Chevre
• Australian Fetta
• Mascarpone

Stretched Curd Cheeses

• Mozzarella - Cows and Buffalo
• Bocconcini
• Halloumi - Olympus & Sth Cape

White Mould Cheeses

• Isigny Brie
• d'Affinois
• Udder Delights Brie & Camembert
• Kingaroy Farm Triple Brie
• King Island Triple Cream
• King Island Camembert
• Kingaroy Brie

Washed Rind Cheeses

• Pont L Eveque
• Fire Engine Red

Semi-Hard Cheese (Cheddar and Cheddar Style)

• Quickes Cheddar
• Ashgrove Farm Wasabi Cheddar
• Ashgrove  Farm Natural Rind Cheddar
• Ashgrove Farm Rubicon Red
• Maffra Matured Cheddar
• Maffra Wenslydale
• Tilba Sun Dried Tomato Cheddar
• King Island Bush Pepper Cheddar
• King Island Surprise Bay Cheddar

Eye Cheeses

• Marcel Comte Gruyere
• Heidi Farm Gruyere
• Tilsit
• Raclette
• Gouda
• Jarlsberg
• Edam
• Morbier
• Ski Queen

Blue Cheese

• Roquefort
• Stilton
• Gorgonzola Dolce
• Farmhouse Blue
• Tarago Shadows of Blue

Hard Cheese

• Parmaggiano Regiano
• Pecorino
• Grana Padano

Cheddar

It may be one of the world's most popular cheeses, but great-tasting cheddar is actually very hard to find. Don't be fooled into thinking you've got the real deal when you pick up a cheese bearing the famous name; many `cheddars' made on an industrial scale have little resemblance to the real deal.

Only a handful are still made using traditional methods, which hail from small farms surrounding the pretty village of Cheddar in southwest England. The most interesting cheddar is still made on the farm and matured in large wheels under a traditional cloth-rind, which allows the cheese to breathe, slowly releasing moisture as it matures. There is nothing quite like the moist, crumbly texture and distinctive, lingering tang of a well-aged traditional cheddar.

The technique of `cheddaring' has been copied all over the world since Englishman Joseph Harding evolved and then promoted a standard in the 1860s. This involved the curd being cut into cubes to slowly drain the whey, and then stacked and turned. Harding visited dairies in Britain and hosted cheesemakers from the US, disseminating the word on the proper techniques to an ever-growing audience.

If you want to experience the qualities created by the original technique, avoid vacuum-packed blocks of cheese, and anything smothered in a pretty wax. This relatively modern method of packing avoids mould-contamination problems, and is convenient for pre-cut wedges, but it also suffocates the cheese, leaving it with a distinct `baggy' flavour and a cloying, damp texture.

 1 SOMERSET CHEDDARS
There are now fewer than half a dozen farms still making traditional cloth-bound cheddar in the county of Somerset, and just two of these (Keens and Montgomery) are still made from raw milk. While these are currently unavailable in Australia, cheddars made from pasteurised milk also offer a range of delicious flavours, particularly cheeses matured for at least 14 months, such as those produced by Greens in Somerset, Denhay in West Dorset and Healeys in Pyengana, Tasmania. The latter's farm dates back to the 1890s. Pyengana Cheddar is made using milk collected from the farm's herd of Friesian cows, and then applying an old-fashioned stirred-curd technique, instead of cheddaring. This classic Australian cheese has a slightly sweet, rather than tangy, aftertaste. My favourite is the 18kg rounds matured for at least a year. The cellar door is well worth a visit.

2 MAFFRA AGED RINDED CHEDDAR
The only cloth-bound farmhouse cheddar low made in Gippsland, Victoria. This dairy was created by Ferial Zekiman in the 80s, and all cheese is hand-made using traditional cheddaring techniques. The best is the 12kg cloth-matured wheel, which develops a tangy flavour with a definitive aftertaste, after being matured for a year or longer.

3 QUICKES FARM CHEDDAR
Over the past 30 years the Devon-based Quicke family's traditional farmhouse cheddar has developed a loyal following in Australia. Mary Quicke has introduced many innovative farming techniques, including the use of Ayrshire cross-breed cows. All 25kg cloth-bound wheels are graded and released at various stages of maturity. The most complex is only released after 14 months, and the 'vintage' two-year-old cheddar is rare, but really special.

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Roquefort

No blue cheese is more significant than Roquefort. It's one of the world's oldest cheeses, and one of only a handful of benchmark blues still made in the traditional way, from raw ewes' milk.

There is no other blue cheese that can match the distinctive flavour of well-made Roquefort. The best is recognisable by an ivory colour well interspersed with dark greeny-blue moulds. Crumbly, soft and fatty, the cheese should just melt in the mouth, releasing a strong flavour that is creamy and sharp, yet slightly sweet, all balanced by the salty moulds.
In the early 90s, a ban was placed on Roquefort as our Federal Government had decided the cheese's raw-milk provenance made it vulnerable to food pathogens such as e-coli. But a recent review by Food Standards of Australia and New Zealand saw the decade-long ban lifted, and Australians can now buy this cheese.

Roquefort means `strong rock', and the basis of its extraordinary reputation is pure local ewes' milk and a labyrinth of well-ventilated caves formed millions of years ago by the collapse of part of the limestone plateau of the Combalou in the Aveyron region of France. In pre-1st century BC, a young shepherd sheltering in the caves was distracted from his flocks by a lover. He left his lunch of fresh cheese and bread behind on a rocky ledge and when he returned, it had turned blue. Curious to try it, he found it tasted delicious.

The cool and damp microclimate inside these caves harbours more than 600 types of mould known as Penicillium Roqueforti, after the village nearby. Strains were once grown in loaves of burnt rye bread and placed in the caves during the autumn equinox. When the bread turned blue, it was dried into a powder and sprinkled into fresh curds. These days, most of the mould is still grown on bread, but in laboratories.

Every cheese bearing the famous name is made from the raw milk of Lacaune ewes. There are seven producers and each has its own cave system for maturation. Cave ripening lasts for at least 30 days, but the cheese must mature for at least 90 days before it can be sold.

FOUR OF THE BEST
1 SOCIETE DEPUIS 1863
Under the Societe des Caves label, this is the most recognised of all Roquefort. The group is the largest of all producers, with 70 per cent of the market. The year 1863 marks the registration of the Societe trademark and the famous bee logo.

2 CARLES
One of the few remaining small family producers, all Carles cheeses are still handmade using milk delivered to the dairy in churns and a variety of strains of roqueforti mould. All cheese is matured on oak shelving that dates back more than a century and, as production is so limited, new customers must join a queue.

3 PAPILLON
Represents more than 12 per cent of all Roquefort. Its distinctive black foil wrap and butterfly symbol stands out in any selection of cheese. The brand is famous for using its own baked bread to cultivate roqueforti moulds in the caves in autumn.

4 BARAGNAUDES
Also under the Societe des Caves label, Baragnaudes is a top-shelf Roquefort that requires very careful handling. Known as 'Women's Roquefort' it is aged deep underground and hand-wrapped by women known as Cabanieres.

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Washed Rinds

Washed rinds, one of the most interesting and polarising types of cheese, developed by necessity. The process of making washed rinds evolved during the 5th and 6th centuries in the monasteries of Northern Europe, in particular Alsace, Normandy and Ireland. To add flavour and make the cheese last longer, the monks washed it in a brine solution and a cool, damp climate did the rest. A natural airborne bacteria, Brevibacterium linens, grew on the rind, turning the cheese a burnt orange colour and ripening the inside until it became soft and creamy. Known colloquially as "stinky cheese" the whiff of washed-rind cheese can be pungent; but, paradoxically, most taste surprisingly mild.

This cheese comes into its own in cooler weather, thanks to the changes in cows' milk in early autumn and the cheese's maturation period. Washed rinds are often promoted in Europe in late autumn because of the association between the rust-like colours of the rind and the season's falling leaves.

Now's the perfect time to try one with a ripe Australian pinot gris or an Alsatian Gewurztraminer, and a dense fruit loaf.

Lactos Red Square
The north-west of Tasmania is renowned for its rich farmland and green paddocks, and is also becoming known for this cheese. Ripened using a combination of white bloomy moulds, this Lactos-made cheese is mild and sticky, with a distinctly creamy aftertaste. Try it close to its use-by date for best results. Also available from select supermarkets.

King Island Stormy
Shipwrecks and storms off this famous isle in Bass Strait are said to have introduced the unique variety of grasses responsible for King Island's rich milk. In this respect, Stormy may be aptly named, but it is actually a mild cheese with a rich, clotted-cream aftertaste and enough bite to be satisfying. Also available from select supermarkets.

Pont L'Eveque
This monk's cheese from Normandy dates back to the 13th century. The distinctive square shape, the name and the methods used to make it are now protected under the French appellation contrdlee system. The dry-brushed terracotta-coloured rind helps ripen the rich, glistening interior, which has a slightly bitter vegetal finish.

Livarot
Named after a village in Normandy, this ancient cheese is sometimes referred to as "the colonel" because of the strips of paper, resembling military stripes, used to support it. When ripe, Livarot has a slightly musty aroma and the rind is crunchy. This is best cut off before you enjoy the soft, fudgy, moist interior.

Jensen's Red
This example takes its name from legendary Australian cheesemaker Laurie Jensen and has a rich, soft custard-like texture and a colour to match. It is matured in the underground cellars at Gippsland's Tarago River Cheese Company, and its flavour has a hint of eucalyptus from the nearby forest.

Milawa Gold
Ripened in the old butter factory at the Milawa Cheese Company, this might just be the strongest, smelliest cheese in Australia – and one of our finest. It's usually at its seasonal best when the walnuts of nearby Bright are ready to eat. A word of caution: Milawa Gold can be a wild cheese with a "farmyard" smell.

Suggestions:
Add a little rindless Pont I'Eveque and a good dash of verjuice to a creamy cheese sauce to spoon over potato gnocchi.
Make small puff-pastry pies with roasted, peeled red capsicum, grilled eggplant and rind less Domaine Red Square.
Add rindless Taleggio and finely chopped black truffles to a fondue.

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Wine and Cheese Matching

Like an old couple, wine and cheese has its knockout moments.  Wine and cheese are considered one of the table's great combinations, but at the risk of committing gastronomical blasphemy, most of the time cheese and wine don't actually go together. What I mean by that is that the flavour of the cheese and the flavour of the wine aren't enhanced by each other.

Cheese originates from milk and wine from grape juice. With the intervention of yeast and bacteria, and the effects of age, those rather simple liquids are transformed into very complex, fermented and not very fresh food. They are both products we eat as they are decaying. They're extroverted foods, they both fight for attention - and that's how we like them.

Using our mouths as chemistry labs, we introduce the runny ammoniacal brie, take a sip of the young tannic cabernet, add some body heat, some saliva, sit back and see what happens.  Human beings don't always enjoy absolute harmony. They like a fight. That's why we watch sport and that's why we eat cheese and drink wine.

But in the interests of keeping the pugilists punching in their weight division, here are the findings of my umpteen cheese and wine experiments.

Soft cheese: mozzarella, ricotta, soft goat's cheese. These cheeses are fresh and unaffected by mould or bacteria. Keep your wine along the same lines. Light, fresh and not too complex - crisp whites and dry roses are the types that work best. If the goat's cheese is a bit pongy, a soft, fruity red is a good choice. A crisp lager works with these sorts of cheeses too.

Hard cheese; cheddar, parmesan, pecorino. This is a wide and mostly wine-friendly cheese family. Sheep, cow or goat's milk makes no great difference - if the texture is dense, the acid high and the fats firm, red wine has a role. Choose reds with not too much oak flavour, plus enough weight to counter the acidity of the cheese and enough acidity and alcohol to help emulsify the fats.

Cooked curd cheese: gruyere, jarlsberg, emmental, Swiss cheese. These cheeses all have a slightly rubbery texture and nutty flavour. Beer is mostly a better choice than wine. Light lagers for the boring jarlsberg and tangy, hoppy, bigger-tasting brews with the old footy sock-smelling gruyeres. If you do want to drink red, pinot noir is good.

Blue cheese: gorgonzola, stilton, roquefort. Blue cheese is bitey and often metallic, and fruit power and sweetness in wine tend to counter this. There are two choices: botrytised white wines go surprisingly well with a powerful blue cheese and good quality port is also a good partner to the blues. If the cheese isn't too bitey, a quality sparkling red can be a fine match.

White mould cheese: brie, camembert. The creaminess of these cheeses tends to coat the mouth and seal it from all other flavours. For this reason a cleansing lager is a surprisingly good choice. With more powerful bries and camemberts, fortified wine works well.

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Download the Cheese Book. Here you'll find everything you need to know about Australian Cheeses courtesy of Dairy Australia.