5 year old Gouda tops bill at cheese party

Last Thursday I hosted a Cheese, Port & Chess night. It was a throwback to uni halls, where a few of us used to waste all manner of late-night time playing chess and necking cheap port - most of the same crew were in attendance again. The eventual winner was a guy who wasn't part of that original Linstead crew but used to be some kind of U12s champion back-in-the-day.

We added a cheese element to the night and boy did the lads make an effort. Pretty much everyone turned up not only with a bottle of port but with a piece of cheese or two. we ended up with nigh-on twenty cheeses to choose from. A week later and my fridge is still rammed. Rachel and I emptied our wallets in Whole Foods Market, coming away with a selection of things. Others ventured elsewhere including Borough Market. as someone pointed out, there was almost no doubling up.

Highlights included:

• a 5 year old Gouda - with almost fudge-like colour and texture, and an incredible dark nutty flavour
• some knock-your-face-off Gorgonzola
• something prehistoric wrapped in leaves, mould and stench, which must have been smuggled past customs
• Brie de Melun (puts your normal Brie de Meaux to shame)
• a lovely light creamy cheese from Borough laced with chilli
• some tasty Gruyère
• Saint Felicien
• Fourme d'Ambert
• Camembert
• a nice Caerphilly
• a massive chunk of Manchego
• a Crottin de Chavignol
• and an excellent Stilton.

Port highlights included a nice white port, and a Dow's 1991 which I'd been saving up for a while. Sadly, there aren't any photos of the night, but a lot of good memories.

The only problem is, if I ever have the good fortune to have a stag night, how can I top it?