Cheese Gifts for Christmas

As much as we’re all trying not to think about it, Christmas is only a few months away now. While it may still be warm and sunny (sort of), now is the best time to start thinking of gift ideas for your loved ones.

And if you have a cheese lover in your life, we’re here to help!

Christmas Cheese Hampers

Everyone loves a cheese hamper. There’s something very satisfying about digging into to a basket or box packed with edible goodies, hoping to find one of your favourite snacks or that nice bottle you’ve had your eye on.

Our hampers contain more than just cheese, although they’re absolutely the highlight. All of our gift hampers contain multiple types of cheese, a fabulous locally sourced chutney, some artisan biscuits, and a lovely alcoholic beverage to enjoy with them.

However, choosing a cheese hamper for someone else can be tricky. If you aren’t sure exactly what types of cheese they like, they might end up a little disappointed. A true cheese lover won’t complain about any flavour, but we understand there are plenty of pickier cheese fans out there too. The cheese accompaniments matter just as much, a wine drinker might not appreciate one of our real ales, and vice versa.

This can be solved with some sleuthing, subtle questions about what cheeses and drinks they might like, or you could put their partners or family members to work on your behalf.

No matter what, all of our cheeses are absolutely fantastic, and they taste great regardless of your preferences. You can customise which go into your hampers, so you can pick some classic choices that are universally loved or go for something bolder that you know the giftee will love to try.

Now let’s talk cheese.

What to Include in a Cheese Hamper

With our selection of cheese hampers, you can leave it to us to recommend our favourites or pick your own.

At Hartington Creamery, we are most known for our white and blue stilton cheese. As well as being some of the most popular varieties of cheese in general, ours are award-winners thanks to our traditional methods and over 300 happy cows.

We have three main cheese gift hampers available, mostly distinguished by the alcohol that comes with them. The first is The Classic; cheese and wine hampers are the most popular gifts, and for good reason. The wine options include:

• Merlot Red Wine
• Shiraz Red Wine
• Pinot Grigio White Wine
• Sauvignon Blanc White Wine

In our Timeless hamper, the wine is replaced with a mini bottle of Graham’s Late vintage port. This is a fixed hamper featuring blue stilton cheese, red onion and plum chutney, and award-winning salt and black pepper biscuits from the artisan Stag Bakeries. Perfect for if you know the giftee will like what’s included.

Not everyone is a wine drinker, fortified or otherwise. Thankfully, there’s no need to miss out. Our The Dales hamper features a bottle of Derbyshire Pale Ale instead. Although this is the most affordable cheese hamper, you get more cheese than in the other two. There are 3 slots to fill this time, and it’s once again customisable.

But which cheese should you include in a hamper? The majority of our selection are award-winners, and we’ve been making them a long time. If you have something specific in mind, here’s a list of your options:

Skegness Blue Cheese – A PDO (Protected Destination of Origin) cheese is one that is only produced in one place, this time just six miles away in its namesake of Skegness. It has a unique taste, combining the tang of stilton cheese with the creamy flavour of a soft brie.

Fowler’s Original Sage Derby Cheese – One of the most visually stunning cheeses in our range, this is an old-school recipe that involves rubbing sage into the cheese curds before letting it age for around 9 months. If you like a traditional cheese, this should be a go-to.

Devonshire Gold Cheese – Not many cheeses can claim to be influenced by royalty, but this blue vein cheese was made at the request of the Duke of Devonshire, and since then has won the Gold Award at the International Cheese Awards 2021. We can’t ask for much higher praise!

Peakland Semi-Hard Blue Cheese – Last but certainly not least is one of our finest blue cheeses. It’s a multi-award winner, helping to put our humble creamery on the map. We only use local ingredients to keep the authentic flavour, making this a perfect cheese for more adventurous tastebuds.

Traditional Derby Cheese – The latest addition to our cheesy lineup is our traditional derby cheese, which is a culmination of a century of cheesemaking. With a smooth texture and buttery flavour, this is a subtle cheese that still has enough zing to wow the tastebuds. We’re also the only people making this, so get it while you can!

Cheese for All Occasions

Of course, a cheese hamper isn’t just for Christmas, if you’re lucky it might last until Boxing Day!

A cheese hamper is a fantastic gift for friends and family, a great alternative to just a bottle or chocolates, which we’ll all get plenty of with a bit of luck.

This isn’t the only gift idea for cheese lovers either, there’s also our subscription boxes, which give your loved one a unique selection of cheeses, chutneys, and more, every time. They can be monthly, or every two or three months depending on your budget and preferences. If you know that any flavour of cheese will go down a storm, it’s a brilliant gift idea (just make sure you order one for yourself too!).

If you have any questions about us, or any of our products, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you!