Caws Teifi Cheese Launches Gwennol; A New Sheep’s Milk Feta Style Cheese
Gwennol is a fresh sheep’s milk cheese made in the traditional feta style, matured in brine for a minimum of two months. It is deliciously salty, with a creamy yet crumbly texture, perfect with salads, pasta, and seasonal summer produce.
The name Gwennol means “Swallow” in Welsh. These migratory birds mark the end of winter, returning to Wales at the start of the sheep-milking season in April and departing in September when the ewes are dried off. Just like the swallow, Gwennol heralds the arrival of warmer days, abundant salads, and vibrant tomatoes, the perfect companions to this exciting new cheese.
Inspired by our surroundings in Ceredigion, where mixed farms — including sheep farms — have long shaped the landscape, we have dreamed for many years of producing a sheep’s milk cheese. But this ambition was not straightforward, as most local sheep farms have traditionally focused on meat rather than dairy.
In 2024, cheesemaker- Claire Harland and I joined Nick from Defaid Dolwerdd on a sheep dairy tour of Wales to explore opportunities for sourcing sheep’s milk. That journey led to a collaboration in March 2025 with Sheep Dairy Wales, an initiative dedicated to supporting current and future farmers by creating opportunities in this emerging sector. Together, we developed two trial batches of a new recipe: Gwennol a 100% sheep’s milk feta-style cheese.
The tour also introduced us to Gareth and Nia Daniel, along with Gareth’s parents, who run Abergwydol, a 250-acre farm in the heart of the Dyfi Valley. The family has traditionally kept a suckler herd of cattle and a flock of Welsh and Romney-cross ewes, selling weaned calves and fat lambs at the local market. Today, they milk 150 Friesland-cross ewes once a day on a low-input, pasture-based system, their milk is now used to make our Gwennol.
Gareth spent his twenties travelling between Wales and New Zealand, shearing sheep in both hemispheres. Over the past decade, he’s combined shearing in the summer with carpentry in the winter, while continuing to farm alongside his parents. Nia has a degree in Agri Business and has worked for Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri, the Welsh Government and more recently Welsh Lamb & Beef Promotions. Raised on a hill farm in North Wales, she now farms at Abergwydol while also helping her parents on their own farm.
Together, they share a passion for farming, animal health and creating a profitable family-run business that they and their parents can be proud of, while also creating opportunities for their children should they wish to follow in their footsteps.
Gareth’s parents, Alun and Cari have been at Abergwydol for 40 years, Alun has a background in haulage whilst Cari has a wealth of knowledge in catering.
The idea of milking sheep was born in 2023 after a few diversification events and plenty of kitchen-table brainstorming. The family wanted to do something “out of the box” while staying true to their farming roots. They milked their first ewes in 2024, learning as they went, supported by generous cheesemakers who shared their experience and advice along the way.
This partnership comes at a crucial time. With proposed changes to farming subsidies, hill farmers face some of the greatest challenges. Communities already under pressure by the demand for ‘cheap’ food and the reality of unsustainable margins remain on a knife edge. Sheep dairy could provide part of the solution, helping farmers add value, access a growing market, and build resilience while remaining accessible to new entrants.
Faith, Hope & Cheese
Robert Savage-Onstwedder