This is a great opportunity to try the Kapiti Collection range with soft cheeses - Aorangi Brie, Kahikatea Camembert, Kotuku – their legendary Blue cheese Kikorangi – washed-rind style Ramara and Port Nicholson and cheddar-hard cheese Pakari Aged Cheddar, Port Wine Cheddar and Pakari Smoked Cheddar – moreover experiment pairing them to some 48 different New Zealand wines, which should certainly sort out the Curds from the Whey.

Kapiti cheese is an interesting story, actually a timeline tracing the evolution and growing interest in restaurants in the early 1980s that has it parallels in New Zealand and Australia and largely due to a visionary cheese maker, Ross McCallum.

A well-established cheese maker for Co-op Dairies, McCallum sensed the growing interest in restaurants - a new phenomenon of socialising and eating in Antipodean culture – and with this trend would be an equally growing demand for cheese along with European tastes.

He was most certainly right and now seen as a bit of a food hero, inspiring many restaurateurs and chefs to support New Zealand cheeses and developing Kapiti cheese to a leading brand which was eventually bought in 2005 by Fonterra, New Zealand’s largest dairy company. www.fonterrafoodservices.co.nz

Fonterra have been equally up to the task and continued to build and improve the range of specialist cheese that are endorsed by many of New Zealand’s leading chefs, to mention a few, the likes of Al Brown (Logan Brown), Stephen Ward (O’Connell St Bistro) and Jason Blackie (Sails Restaurant) big supporters.

We often here from vignerons that the “Wine is made in the vineyard”, emphasising the vital facet of the vineyard itself the painstaking viticulture and often organic and biodynamic practices that all lead to a wine that is a true expression of it place. Well, cheese is no different and it is equally vital to have high quality diary milk and that is only possible with unparalleled pristine pastures and environment that New Zealand is renowned for.

These are world-class cheeses and Kapiti Collection has taken time-honoured traditions with New Zealand innovation to produce place-specific cheeses that are wonderful reflections of the different regions and climates throughout the north and south islands of New Zealand and branded them individually with indigenous place names. www.kapiticollection.co.nz

So cheese lovers or discoverers, with thanks to the good people at Fonterra and their exclusive Singapore importer, Cellar Door www.thecellardoor.com.sg come a try our Kapiti cheese at the Family of 12 tasting - http://www.thewanderingpalate.com/?p=7364 - A Dozen Reasons to Get Excited About New Zealand Wine.

Follow the link for enticing cheese pictures: http://www.thewanderingpalate.com/events/7434/