The board, ingredient by ingredient.

Fresh · Cow

Milky little rounds that have been sitting in herbed oil long enough to take on garlic, oregano and a whisper of chili. Soft, cool, and the mildest thing on the board. Pairs with a crisp, unoaked white. The acidity cuts through the oil.

Hard · Aged

Nutty and salt-crystalline, with that faint pineapple tang that only shows up after a long age. However it is cut, you want the craggy edges — they catch the fig butter. Pairs with a structured red. The tannin balances the salt.

Soft · Bloomy

Left out from the moment we board so it is properly slumped by the time you reach it. Butter and mushroom under a soft white rind — eat the rind, that is where the flavour lives. Pairs with something sparkling. The bubbles clear the cream from the palate.

Alpine · Raw Milk

The most serious cheese here. Months in a Swiss cave give it a dense amber paste, a savoury broth-like depth, and crunchy little tyrosine crystals near the rind. Pairs with a full-bodied dry white, or a light red with some earth to it.

Firm · Herbed

A sharp, crumbly cheddar shot through with green flecks of dill and garden herbs. It is the sharpest, most assertive cheese on the board. Pairs with a dry rosé, served cold. It matches the herbs and cuts the salt.

Fresh · Bite-size

The palate cleanser. Cool, springy, barely salted — we scatter them into the gaps so there is always something neutral within reach of a strong bite. Pairs with any of the four wines. Useful between two strong cheeses.

Cured · Peppered

Uncured pork salami rolled in a thick collar of cracked black pepper. Rich and a little fiery at the edge, mellow and fatty in the middle. Pairs with a fruit-forward red. The ripe fruit balances the black pepper.

Cured · Beef

Air-dried beef, sliced almost translucent. Practically no fat, so it reads as deep and mineral rather than rich — think cured steak with a squeeze of lemon behind it. Pairs with a light red served cool, or a full-bodied white.

Cured · Pork

Sweet, salty, and thin enough to melt on contact. We drape it in loose ribbons so it stays airy instead of compacting into a slab. Pairs with sparkling or a dry rosé. Both cut the salt.

Cured · Smoky

Spanish dry-cured pork, deep red with pimentón and garlic. Firmer and smokier than the salami, with a slow warmth rather than heat. Pairs with a Spanish red with dark fruit, enough to carry the smoked paprika.

Roasted · Herbed

Almonds, cashews and walnuts tossed in olive oil and dried Mediterranean herbs. They add the one texture nothing else on the board has: a hard, dry crunch. Pairs with any of the four wines, and particularly well with the reds.

Brined · Grilled

Pitted, then grilled until the skins blister and caramelise. Less puckering than a raw brined olive — smokier, rounder, and safe to eat without thinking. Pairs with a bone-dry white or a chilled rosé. The acidity balances the brine.

Flatbread · Long

Italian lingue — brittle sheets of flatbread cracked into shards, with green olive baked right through them. Salty enough to eat alone, sturdy enough for the cheddar. Pairs with a dry white. Sturdy enough to carry the harder cheeses.

Crisp · Sweet-Savoury

Thin, twice-baked rounds with whole pieces of fig and olive suspended in them. Sweet and briny in the same bite, which is why they work under almost any cheese here. Pairs with an off-dry white with a little residual sugar. Good under the brie.

Crisp · Herbal

Sweet raisin against piney rosemary, on a crisp that snaps cleanly. Built for the soft cheeses and for the fig butter. Pairs with a rounder white, or a red with some age on it.

Spread · Jammy

Thick, dark and barely sweetened — closer to a fruit paste than a jam. A small spoonful on a crisp, under a shard of parmesan, is the way to eat it. Pairs with a full-bodied red, or a sweet fortified wine.

Fresh · Chilled

Two colours for contrast — the red ones deeper and softer, the green ones tart and snappy. They come out of the cooler last so they are still cold on deck. Pairs with all four wines. A neutral reset between richer bites.

Dried · Tart

Whole passion fruit dried into chewy amber discs, seeds and all. Intensely sour and floral — the sharpest thing on the board and the one that surprises people. Pairs with sparkling. The tropical acidity works with the bubbles.

Dried · Organic

Plump, honeyed and seedy, with skin that has gone soft and slightly chewy. Tear one in half and lay it against the gruyère — sweet against savoury, no cracker required. Pairs with a red with dark fruit, or a late-harvest white.

Raw · Cold

Cold, raw and faintly sweet. They break up the richness of the cheese and cured meat, and they are the one thing on the board that is not salty. Pairs with no wine in particular. They are there to reset the palate.