A debut from Jasper Hill Farm is always newsworthy on Planet Cheese, but this recently launched blue could be a supernova. The Whole Foods monger who alerted me to it called it “lovely to say the least” and cradled the package in her arms like a baby. Even my husband enjoyed it, which, when it comes to blue cheese, is not a bet I ever make. It’s fruity, winey and moist, with an offbeat shape and novel packaging. Everything about this Vermont newcomer screams “holiday cheese boards.”
Read moreAwestruck
I’ve been enjoying this cheese for decades, but the wedge pictured here was the best ever. It should have been underwhelming. It had endured a lot—too much shipping and too much time in my fridge. But it was as creamy, luscious, balanced and compelling as any blue cheese I’ve had in a long time. My husband rarely eats blues with enthusiasm, but he practically fought me for this one. The creamery believes it may be the first cow’s milk blue wheel produced in America. What better choice for your Independence Day burgers or holiday cheese board?
Read moreRogue Creamery’s Next Chapter
Rogue Creamery the Oregon producer of some of America’s most acclaimed blue cheeses, has a new partner: the French dairy giant Savencia. Good news? I wasn’t sure. I’ve been a huge fan of Rogue since David Gremmels and Cary Bryant bought it, in 2002, from Ig Vella, whose father founded it. Gremmels and Bryant had zero cheese experience. But Gremmels had the marketing chops and Bryant, who knew microbiology, quickly mastered the cheesemaking. Ig mentored them both until his death in 2011.
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