Losing a great American cheese is a bummer—especially a cheese that so many loved—but a new arrival can soften the blow. So while I’m still in mourning for Ewereka, a blue-ribbon sheep Cheddar that Central Coast Creamery has discontinued, I’m enthused about its just-released replacement. Unforeseen hurdles compelled the Paso Robles, California, creamery to ditch Ewereka, but just wait until you taste the newcomer (above). Cheesemaker Reggie Jones has the American palate and purse dialed in, and I’d bet a bundle that this value-priced newbie will fly out of cheese shops.

Meet Faultline, a six-month-old cow’s milk wheel with a flavor profile that would be hard to dislike. Jones, a former cheese-culture salesman, is a whiz at blending cultures to achieve mass appeal. With Faultline, he’s given us a Cheddar-adjacent cheese that’s mellow, nutty and sweet, but not too sweet. It has that fruity pineapple aroma that I find in a lot of American Cheddars today, but it’s not overblown.

Faultline is “kind of that hybrid,” says Jones, “with some of the qualities of Cheddar and alpine cheese and Gouda.” Which is to say, it has a crumbly Cheddar texture, the caramel notes of aged Gouda and a hint of the walnut and roasted-onion scent of Gruyère. That hits the bullseye for a lot of consumers.

Ewereka had to die when Jones ran into difficulties with sourcing sheep’s milk. His cost for the milk had soared until there was little margin left. And at any price, fresh sheep’s milk was almost unobtainable in California.

“It’s more scarce every day,” says Jones, a situation that has already felled several producers. Shooting Star Creamery (affiliated with Central Coast Creamery) and the tiny Garden Variety Cheese may be the only commercial enterprises in the state still making aged sheep cheese.

“Goat’s milk is also in extreme short supply,” says Jones, “and it’s not just in California. It’s not just in the U.S. It’s an issue worldwide. Everybody that makes goat cheese is looking for milk.” According to Jones, the shortfall reflects rising demand for the milk and not—as with sheep’s milk—a dwindling supply.

To fill the gap left by Ewenique, Jones envisioned a well-aged cow’s milk cheese at an inviting price. “So many cheeses have gone up so high,” says Jones. “You get sticker shock in the store. And it doesn’t mean that cheesemakers are rolling in money. Cheese goes through so many hands before it gets to the store.”

Distributors are just taking the first orders for Faultline now so it could be a few weeks before it arrives in stores. I’m jumping the gun a bit but wanted Planet Cheese readers to be on alert. Jones is initially producing only 200 ten-pound wheels a month but should be able to ramp that up by next spring. Expect to find it at about $20 a pound—a lot of value for that price. The milk comes from the only cow dairy in his county, the student-run dairy at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. By minimizing his milk-hauling cost, Jones can produce more affordable cheese.