New Forest's Lyburn takes Super Gold at the World Cheese Awards

HAVING just beaten thousands of entries to win a Super Gold in the World Cheese Awards, the locally produced Lyburn has earned the right to be a top cheeseboard contender this festive period.

The artisan producer was one of just 11 in the UK to scoop the accolade from organiser the Guild of Fine Foods for its Stoney Cross variety.

It was the latest in a long string of honours secured over the last few years by Mike Smales and his team at Lyburn dairy farm in Landford.

“Our cheeses are such good quality because we pay a lot of attention to the way they are made,” said Mike, who took over the farm from his father in 1970.

“We make them by hand as opposed to being mass-produced mechanically.

“My team looks after the ripening process and carefully controls the temperature and humidity level, checking every single hour.”

Mike’s 180-strong herd of Holstein Friesians produce around 1.3-million litres of milk a year, and 50% of that is turned into cheese.

He sells his cheese to Waitrose, the Fine Cheese Company, luxury cruise brand Cunard, and high-end restaurants locally and further afield, including The Jetty, Lime Wood and The Pig.

He also supplies most farm and village shops in the Forest.

“I’ve morphed from a muddy-boots farmer into a van-driving cheese seller,” said Mike. “Twenty years ago I would be banging on pub doors asking if they’d like to sell my cheese and getting told, ‘No. Sod off, farmer’.

“It’s taken us 10 years to get established and now I don’t need to do that. The mistake people make when starting up a business is thinking it’s going to be an instant success. It might take a really long time and it’s going to be a lot of hard work.”

Mike continued: “People talk about the price because our product is a bit more expensive than supermarket cheese, but what I would say is, spend a bit more on quality and eat a bit less of it.

“I know that for some people, though, this cannot be the case because they’re really struggling.”

One of the keys to Lyburn’s success, Mike believes, is the location of his farm on the northern edge of the New Forest.

“I wouldn’t want to be making cheese halfway up a mountain in Wales,” he said. “We are very lucky here because we live in one of the most vibrant areas in Britain.

“We have countryside, beaches, marinas, hotels, lots of tourists. We have good road connections for local wholesalers who are always up and down the A36, so we serve London well.”

Mike says the decision to begin making cheese was prompted by supermarkets cutting the price they paid for milk.

“They stopped giving the price needed to make business sustainable for farmers,” continued Mike. “We haven’t diversified – we are still very much farmers; we’ve just added value.”

The farm produces six varieties of cheese: Winchester and Old Winchester, a dry, hard cheese matured for nine and 18 months respectively; and the younger Lyburn Gold, a soft and creamy cheese that is delicate in flavour.

There is also Stoney Cross, which is mould-ripened for just eight weeks and has a buttery, sweet flavour, along with oak-smoked and nettle-and-garlic varieties.

“In general, the lighter cheese like Stoney Cross, Lyburn Gold or a strong cheddar go with a lighter white wine,” Mike advises.

“While cheeses with a stronger, more intense flavour like Old Winchester pair nicely with a really robust, full-bodied red.

“On your cheese board, you should also have a blue – locally we have Isle of Wight Blue and the Blue Vinny – which go well with a dessert wine. Then you ought to have a type that isn’t cow – maybe a Rosary Goat from Landford or a sheep’s cheese like Spenwood.”

Lyburn is also a leading supplier of organic vegetables, which go to Waitrose, Abel & Cole and Riverford Organic Farmers.

Mike’s son Jono looks after that side of the business, producing broad beans, sugar-snap peas, courgettes, French beans, sweetcorn, onions and gem squash and pumpkins.

Visit www.lyburnfarm.co.uk