Jasper Hill Farm | Greensboro, Vt.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Made with the raw milk of Jasper Hill\u2019s grass-fed herd, ACS First Place Best of Show winner Whitney leverages Jura-mountain inspiration into something uniquely Vermont. Its tacky pink exterior contains a pliant, milky white paste redolent of juicy fruit and gummy candy. She\u2019s a stinker, perhaps best enjoyed molten-lava hot at your next winter soir\u00e9e.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CLOTHBOUND CHEDDAR There\u2019s stiff competition in ACS\u2019s clothbound cheddar category, so Grafton\u2019s first-place win is nothing to sneeze at. Seven months of aging in cheesecloth give these wheels their mottled gray rind, grassy golden paste, and deep flavors of forest floor and salted nuts. Crumbly, faintly citric, and exquisitely balanced, this might just be the perfect table cheese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n FORMAGELLA<\/strong> The Lafranchi family built Nicasio Valley Cheese Company in California in 2010 with the goal of honoring their hometown of Maggia, Switzerland. In ACS First Place winner Formagella, they\u2019ve brought their two worlds together beautifully\u2014pudgy at the center and silken at the rind, this cheese spills forth with notes of hay and malt, needing little more than a piece of sourdough to catch it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HARBISON<\/strong> Can the written word evoke the ethereal experience of sitting before a wheel of this multi-award-winner? You cut back a lid of rind, taking care not to disturb the dusty bark wrap, revealing a vanilla-pudding interior to impressed friends. You tell them cows graze at the feet of the spruce trees from which the bark is harvested, but no one is listening\u2014thick richness is coating their mouths, flavors of pine and earth have transported them. They are lying on the Greensboro forest floor, carried away by the portal that is Harbison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ALP BLOSSOM<\/strong> The narrative is half the pleasure in consuming an Alpine cheese: Cows leave their valley homes in spring in search of vibrant meadows and neon patches of wildflower, then are welcomed back with flower crowns and harvest parades. In NYICC Double Gold winner Alp Blossom, cheesemaker Albert Kraus has created a true embodiment of these origins. Flower petals coat the washed rind of this raw-milk, cooked-curd cheese, imbued inside and out with taste of place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n JEFFERSON 2 YEAR CHEDDAR<\/strong> Aged an average of two years, Rogue\u2019s Good Food Award-winning Jefferson provides the best of both cheddar worlds: crunchy and crumbly in your hand, buttercream in your mouth. Once there, this Northwest-style block cheddar hits you with salted peanuts, pineapple, and lawnmower on the palate, making it a suitable partner for whatever you\u2019ve got on your board. <\/p>\n\n\n\n PLEASANT RIDGE RESERVE<\/strong> Pleasant Ridge Reserve is one of the most awarded cheeses in American artisan history\u2014an impressive feat the first time that phrase was uttered over a decade ago, made all the more impressive by how long Andy Hatch\u2019s team has managed to keep it up. Still made with raw milk only during summer months when cows are on fresh pasture, Pleasant Ridge Reserve\u2019s brine-washed rind is a welcome sight for sore eyes on any cheese plate. We hope it never changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GRIFFIN<\/strong> Winner of a Good Food Award and WCA Gold, Griffin is further proof of Sweet Grass Dairy\u2019s ascendant cheesemaking prowess. To make it, they start with the blueprint of a French farmhouse cheese, then wash the raw-milk curds in Terminus Porter from neighboring Gate City Brewing Company. The resulting wheels have an earthy rind, rich yellow paste, and flavors of malt and hops, perfect for nibbling beside a beer or melting on burgers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PRUFROCK<\/strong> If you long to be on Martha\u2019s Vineyard but can\u2019t quite figure out how a ferry works, this multi-award winner is the cheese for you. Crafted with the pasteurized milk of cows that munch the island\u2019s saltwater-lashed grasses and washed in a briny bath, Prufrock exudes coastal glam. Technique from Normandy and Ireland collides with American ingenuity for a sticky orange block that tastes like tropical fruit and sour cream when young, and meaty jerky when ripe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n PRUFROCK + SPICY CHUTNEY TOMATRUFFLE<\/strong> Dubbed one of the World\u2019s Top 20 cheeses at the WCCC, this flavored riff on Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company\u2019s endlessly riff-able Toma is one of their best. Dried Umbrian black truffles create an earthy underbelly in this lactic cow\u2019s milk cheese, which has surprisingly sweet notes of creamy cocoa and wild strawberries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GORWYDD CAERPHILLY<\/strong> Maugan and Todd Trethowan learned the Caerphilly ropes from the last in a long line of Somerset makers, but that didn\u2019t stop them from innovating on the theme. To coax flavors of lemon rind and wild mushroom out of their WCA and ICDA trophy-bearing wheels, they use raw organic cow\u2019s milk and push the age weeks (sometimes even months) beyond standard. The resulting paste crumbles to a knife and melts on your tongue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n QUEEN BEE PORCINI Like all of Beehive\u2019s cheeses, this WCA Super Gold winner begins with their Irish-style cheddar, Promontory, made with pasteurized Jersey cow\u2019s milk. For Queen Bee Porcini, foraged fungi are ground to a powder and rubbed onto the wheels. After two to three months of age, the creamy base takes on an earthy umami finish that\u2019s perfect for a winter grilled cheese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n OAK BLUE<\/strong> Master cheesemaker Barry Charlton crafts a number of blue cheeses at his down-under creamery. His large-format Oak Blue, named for the massive trees around Mossvale Park near the creamery entrance, earned him two WCA trophies and an ICDA Gold medal. Modeled after Italian Gorgonzola, the vegetarian-rennet wheels are aged three months and rippled through with extensive veining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n EPOISSES BERTHAUT<\/strong> Robert and Simone Berthaut brought Epoisses back from the brink of near-extinction in 1975, so it\u2019s only fitting that their take on this classic French washed rind won WCA Super Gold. They make Napoleon’s favorite cheese with milk from 30 C\u00f4te d\u2019Or farmers who raise Brune, Simmental, and Montb\u00e9liarde cows, and wash their wheels in Marc de Bourgogne brandy to achieve the instantly recognizable wrinkled salmon rind and equally unmistakable aroma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BLUE SHROPSHIRE<\/strong> A deep pumpkin orange is shot through with electric blue in this ICDA champion cheese from farming cooperative Long Clawson, founded in 1911. Combining the best of both cheddar and blue cheeses, we can\u2019t think of anything better to have alongside a beer and the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GRAND NOIR Even for a double cream blue, this WCCC Best of Class and ICDA Gold-winning cheese\u2019s decadence takes you by surprise. What little veining is present evokes blue velvet, while the surrounding paste smacks of pure cream cheese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n GRAND NOIR + DRIED APRICOTS + BUCKWHEAT HONEY<\/strong> RED ROCK A true American original, Red Rock combines annatto and blue veining with a natural, dank bloomy rind for a flavor experience evocative of its namesake caves. The result of a creamery accident, the Roelli family\u2019s original recipe is now considered Best of Class and ranked in the Top 20 at the WCCC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/ClothboundCheddar_Grafton.png\")
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Grafton Village Cheese Company<\/strong> | Brattleboro, Vt.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Nicasio Valley Cheese Company<\/strong> | Nicasio, Calif.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Jasper Hill Farm<\/strong> | Greensboro, Vt.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Hofk\u00e4serei Kraus<\/strong> | Bavaria, Germany<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Rogue Creamery<\/strong> | Central Point, Ore.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Uplands Cheese Company<\/strong> | Dodgeville, Wis.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Sweet Grass Dairy<\/strong> | Thomasville, Ga.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The Grey Barn and Farm<\/strong> | Chilmark, Mass.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/strong>The boldness of Prufrock begs for something strong to stand beside it. Deepen its mystery with spicy chutney or onion relish and wash it all down with the yeasted peppery profile of a Belgian farmhouse ale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company<\/strong> | Point Reyes Station, Calif.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Trethowan\u2019s Dairy Ltd.<\/strong> | Weston-super-Mare, UK<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Beehive Cheese Company<\/strong> | Uintah, Utah<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Berrys Creek Gourmet Cheese<\/strong><\/strong> | Fish Creek, Australia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Savencia Fromage & Dairy Fromagerie Berthaut<\/strong> | \u00c9poisses, France<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Long Clawson Dairy<\/strong> | Long Clawson, UK<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
K\u00e4serei Champignon<\/strong> | Lauben, Germany<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
When paired with sulfured dry apricots and buckwheat honey, a third taste is created that\u2019s somehow greater than the sum of its parts. Savor it as long as you can, then slake your thirst with something sweet and lively like Amontillado sherry or Barolo Chinato (or Ethiopian Tej, if you want to branch out).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Roelli Cheese Haus<\/strong> | Shullsburg, Wis.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n