Featured Cheeses

What follows are cheeses that are either new on my radar or ones I want you to know about – or both. Always keep in mind that if you can’t find these specific cheeses, you may be able to do so online. If not, don’t hesitate to talk to your cheesemonger about the possibility of bringing them in. The cheese retailers I know are always open to hearing from their customers. Besides, it’s possible they haven’t heard of the cheese, so bringing it to their attention can bring great results for you and for them.

Aragonés

This is a new cow's milk cheese from the Aragon region in Spain. Tangy, soft and springy, pale yellow, and delicious. I found it at the always-exciting importer Forever Cheese. www.forevercheese.com/pic.asp?iCat=17&iPic=263

Briar Rose Creamery Madrona

Washed-rind goat’s milk cheeses are rare, but when the person making one of this country’s best is cheesemaker Sarah Marcus, it’s hardly a surprise. Sarah and her husband, Jim Hoffman, opened the doors to their business called Briar Rose Creamery just three years ago, and with the build-up of their inventory has come the creamery’s stellar reputation for turning local goat’s milk into

Cabra Romero

I featured this cheese at my Spanish cheese and wine seminar at the Food & Wine magazine Classic at Aspen this year, and it continues to blow me away. It’s a beautiful goat cheese from Murcia that’s slathered with a thick layer of rosemary (hence “romero”). The flavor of the rosemary comes through but isn’t overpowering,

Annabella Buffalo Mozzarella

This is a new buffalo milk cheese from the country of Colombia. Really! You won't believe how incredibly delicious -- and rich -- this cheese is. Luckily, it's making its way to the United States and gets here along with the three-day flower shipment that this farm also produces. Means this buffalo milk mozzarella is probably fresher than the Italian imports, which generally take longer to get

Jewell

This is the new soft-ripened mixed milk gem (cow and goat) from Tumalo Farms in Bend, Oregon. Tumalo Farms makes stellar aged goat's milk cheeses (and one cow's milk), so this bloomy rind cheese is a departure for them and a good one at that!

http://www.tumalofarms.com/Jewell-overview.aspx

Normanville

The iconic cheesemaker from Normandy, E. Graindorge, whom I had the pleasure of visiting in September, has come up with a cheese that tastes like the very best Camembert but looks like Brie (a traditional Brie is much larger in format than traditional Camembert). The result is a full-flavored mushroomy, forest-like creamy cheese. Absolutely delicious.

You can read more about this and

Pedrozo Dairy Stout Cow

When Mandy Johnston, daughter of Jill and Tim Pedrozo, founders of Pedrozo Dairy and Cheese Company, took over the cheesemaking reins from Mom for a time a few years ago, she created this version of their signature Northern Gold cheese. In this case, Mandy gives it a soak in Sierra Nevada Stout, which imparts a toasty yet tangy flavor to the all-Jersey milk cheese. Delish.

Pierce Point

It's that time of year again. The summer cheeses are long gone and others have stepped in to take their place. Such is the case with Cowgirl Creamery's cheese, Pierce Point. The organic cheese from Point Reyes, California, comes around during the fall and stays through winter, when herbs from the cheese's namesake area are harvested and dried to become a coating for the cheese.

Cowgirl

Pleasant Ridge Reserve

It is quite a feat when a cheese wins "Best of Show" at the annual conference of the American Cheese Society, but to win it twice is practically unheard of. Yet that's exactly what happened on July 23rd in Louisville at the annual conference of the American Cheese Society. The remarkable cheese: Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Uplands Cheese Company in Dodgeville, Wisconsin.

The story and

St. George

Joe and Mary Matos are from the Azores island. Sao Jorge, off the coast of Portugal. While Mary was born in the United States, Joe, who came from a cheesemaking family, immigrated much later. The couple married and called Santa Rosa, California, home. There is a fairly substantial Portugese community in this city, about 50 miles north of San Francisco, and since Joe had cows and knew how to

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