Dorset Blue Cheese 
Dorset Blue is an English cow's milk blue cheese protected by a European designation of origin. Also sold as Dorset Blue Vinney, it is known for moderate blue veining and a piquant flavor that stops short of being strong.
Key Facts
| Country of Origin | England, United Kingdom |
| Specific Origin | Dorset, England |
| Protection | PGI (1995) |
| Milk Type | Cow |
| Milk Treatment | Skimmed |
| Fat Content | Approximately 3% |
| Rind | Rough, dry brown mold coating |
| Texture | Firm |
| Flavor | Piquant, peppery, mild to strong |
| Colors | Uniform with irregular blue-green veining |
| Age | 12 to 20 weeks |
| Also Known As | Dorset Blue Vinney, Blue Vinney |
What is Dorset Blue Cheese?
Dorset Blue is an English cow's milk cheese, protected at European level by a designation of origin under the name Dorset Blue cheese. It also goes by Dorset Blue Vinney and Blue Vinney. Vinney is a Dorset word linked to the old term vinew, meaning to grow mouldy. Another explanation makes it a corruption of veiny, a reference to the blue veins running through the cheese.
For hundreds of years it was a common farm cheese across Dorset. Production stopped around 1960 and the cheese disappeared. In the 1980s Woodbridge Farm in Dorset recovered the old recipe, and the cheese is in production again. It is still made in a fairly artisan way.
The texture is open but firm, and the cheese holds together when cut instead of crumbling. Blue veining runs through the paste, less intense than in a blue such as Cabrales. The flavor is piquant in the way blue cheeses tend to be, without being excessively strong.
It remains a local cheese. Most of what is made gets eaten near where it is produced.
How Does Dorset Blue Cheese Compare?
The most relevant cheeses to compare Dorset Blue Cheese against.
