I recently led a small cheese and wine tasting for the winners of a charity auction lot. The cheeses were donated by the makers and maybe not what I would have chosen—they weren’t fancy-schmancy—but free is a nice price. So I wasn’t expecting any “wow” moments from this cheese plate but…wow. The fragrant cheese pictured above had the guests practically licking their plates, and I felt the same way. I hadn’t tasted it in ages and didn’t recall it having so much personality, so I reached out to the creamery to see what—if anything—might have changed. Was Wagon Wheel always this good?

Cowgirl Creamery’s Wagon Wheel is this California producer’s largest cheese, weighing in at about 17 pounds. Made with pasteurized organic cow’s milk, it’s similar to Fontina but not quite as robust. In the past, my notes described it as understated, but the wedge I had recently was bolder than that—not in-your-face pungent but on its way down that road. Buttery, nutty, smooth and creamy, with just enough beefy washed-rind character to make it compelling, Wagon Wheel is mellow enough for a picky kid but engaging enough for us flavor hounds. That’s a balancing act.

Look to Wagon Wheel to improve your backyard burger game. Meltability has always been part of its job description, ever since Zuni Café chef Judy Rodgers asked the Cowgirls to develop a cheese for her pizzas. Rodgers was bothered that she relied so much on Italian cheese in a restaurant kitchen that was otherwise hyperlocal.

Matt Brown, the creamery’s production manager, says that little has changed in the recipe in the 12 years or so that Cowgirl has made Wagon Wheel. But he mentioned a few steps that contribute significantly to its texture and flavor. Warming the curds in the whey is standard practice for cheese of this style, but Cowgirl stops the cooking at a relatively low temperature to enhance pliability. Also, they use traditional animal rennet for Wagon Wheel, convinced that it boosts flavor and aroma. Lastly, they add cultures to the brine used to repeatedly wash the wheels, which promotes flavor development.

Well…there actually have been two more changes, Brown told me. In 2017, Cowgirl moved production to a new creamery in Petaluma. A different environment almost always affects a cheese. And about a year ago, they welcomed a new member of the team: a carousel-type device that washes and brushes the wheels, eliminating a lot of physically taxing labor. Brown says that the rinds have been more consistent with this mechanical helper, which always shows up for work and never gets backaches.

Looking back at my earlier notes from when Wagon Wheel was first released, I see that I interviewed Rodgers to get the origin story. She has since passed away, too young, from cancer, so it was bittersweet to revisit her comments, but I thought I would share them.

“I was trying not to spend fossil fuel getting a cheese (Asiago) that’s a staple for me,” she told me. So she asked Cowgirl to develop an affordable and “friendly” cheese with a reasonable shelf life.

Rodgers was delighted with Wagon Wheel. “If we pair it with southern Italian pizza toppings, it works,” she told me. “If we push north, with radicchio and balsamic, it works for that. As the pizza cools off, this cheese doesn’t get hard. A lot of mozzarellas turn rubbery. This stays a little gooey-er. And I love that it’s local milk.”