After a long pandemic pause, American creameries are launching new cheeses again. Hooray! Optimism is trouncing uncertainty and yielding some exciting newcomers for our cheese boards. American Cheese Month—that would be May—is a great time to celebrate this creativity and encourage our cheesemakers to keep at it. I asked some of the nation’s leading retailers to name a new domestic cheese that they’re loving. Consider this your bucket list for the months ahead.

“Galax has been a great addition to our cheese case. I've long been a fan of the cheeses and philosophy of Meadow Creek Dairy in Virginia and their newest cheese is no exception. It’s a washed-curd cheese with a springy texture and buttery, Gouda-esque flavor—great for less adventurous palates but with all the complexity of farmstead raw-milk cheese that we cheesemongers love. It often leads to conversations about the Feete family’s farming methods, so it’s the perfect tool to explain to people why it’s important to support the farmers and cheesemakers who are making the world a better place.”
Randall Felts
Beautiful Rind
Chicago

“I am excited to recommend Alemar Cheese’s Apricity (top image), a soft-ripened cow's milk cheese with a Geotrichum rind. It's made right here in Minneapolis by Charlotte Serino, who previously made goat cheeses, so you can see where she gets her inspiration. It’s everything I want it to be, just elegant and luscious, a rich soft-ripened cupcake.”
Liz Nerud
Kowalski’s Markets
Minneapolis

I love the cultured milk notes and the browned butter finish of Mystic Cheese’s Finback. Crumble it on tostadas and roasted or grilled spring vegetables.
James Ayers
Sonoma Cheese Factory
Sonoma, CA

“We’re absolutely loving Black Capped Cache from Stony Pond Farm. This raw-milk raclette style wheel is hardy and beefy with a sweet cream finish and just a gosh-darn joy to eat! A glass of Riesling and a crispy potato gratin made with lots of Black Capped Cache would be my perfect rainy-weekend meal. The folks behind this cheese, Melanie and Tyler Webb, have a mixed herd on organic pasture in an idyllic corner of Vermont.”
Amanda Bernhardt
Di Bruno Bros
Philadelphia

“The cheeses I’m dying over right now are from Blakesville Creamery, particularly a two-pound round called Shabby Shoe. It's a goat's milk cheese with the most incredible cake-like texture and gooey cream line under the rind. It just melts in your mouth! The flavors are bright, lactic and sweet, with hints of almond and brioche. We can't keep it in the case. I’ve never tasted a Geotrichum-rinded goat cheese with such clean, bright flavors. Veronica Pedraza is making some of the best cheese in the U.S. at the moment. I also love Linedeline, her ash-ripened wheel.”
Laura Downey
Fairfield Cheese Company and Greenwich Cheese Company
Fairfield and Greenwich, CT

“I’m in love with Sweet Grass Dairy’s Georgia Gouda, a grassy raw-milk cheese that’s naturally deep amber in hue. It has a crunchy, mottled natural rind and an interior that’s dense but creamy on the palate with a lactic kiss that fades to a smooth finish with whispers of sweetness.”
Jeffery Mitchell
Culpeper Cheese Company
Culpeper, VA

“Right now I am loving Walden from Sequatchie Cove. It’s completely accessible, pillowy and cloud like, with a silky mouthfeel and yeasty, white button mushroom notes. It’s a shop favourite and the diminutive size makes it an easy choice for a picnic.”
Louise Converse
Artisan Cheese Company
Sarasota, FL

“Garlic & Herb BellaVitano is the newest release in the BellaVitano series, a Cheddar/grating blend from pasteurized cow's milk. The wheel is rubbed with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, Aleppo chili, lemon zest and parsley and aged at least 12 months. A great addition to homemade pizza and pasta and it goes great with red wine.”
Kent Torrey and Team
The Cheese Shop
Carmel, CA