How do we actually taste cheese like a pro? Behind every wheel lies a dense network of choices, chemistry, and craftsmanship. In this deep-dive panel, we look at one wheel through three distinct lenses: the maker, the affineur, and the buyer.

What can rich notes of alpine milk reveal about the soil beneath the pasture—or the cleanliness of the milking parlor? How does an affineur know whether to ship a wheel today or let it rest in the cellar for another month? And how do buyers train their palate to spot greatness before it even hits the counter?

Led by world-renowned educator Sue Sturman alongside a top-notch panel of industry insiders, we dissect the flavor profiles, textures, and subtle cues that make artisan cheese extraordinary.

From pasture to cellar to counter, four distinct voices – spanning production, affinage, and retail – share how to read a wheel of cheese like a pro:

Wherever Sue Sturman is, cheese knowledge is sure to follow. For over 30 years, she has been teaching people to taste, understand and mature cheese. She moderates the panel on affinage and shares what otherwise only happens behind closed cellar doors.

Finbar Deery has been Head of Retail at Sheridans Cheesemongers for over a decade – he's a World Cheese Awards Super Juror, as well as holder of an M.A. in Gastronomy and Food Studies. Equal parts researcher, seasoned retailer, and charming, witty know-it-all, Finbar brings a razor-sharp palate and infectious Irish humor to the art of cheese selection.

A fifth-generation custodian of the UK’s oldest pedigree Friesian herd and an Academy of Cheese Fellow, Ceri Cryer brings an Oxford biology degree, an experimental mindset, and deep technical mastery at Brinkworth Dairy to dissecting how every variable—from pasture science to curd-cutting size—translates directly into flavour and texture.

A dairy food technologist who honed his culinary craft across Italy, Ireland, and top kitchens before returning to lead Rohmilchkäserei Backensholz – internationally acclaimed for its award-winning cheeses – Thilo Metzger-Petersen combines a chef's palate with rigorous technical precision to evaluate every wheel through a shared passion for culinary enjoyment and radical sustainability.