Name: Honey Walnut Chevre
Style: Fresh
Milk: Goat
Pasteurized: Yes
Aging: None
Producer: Euphoric Cheese Shop
Country of Origin: United States – Tennessee
Tasting Notes: Tangy, sweet, cinnamon-y
Pairing Suggestions: Cherry Chai jam, crostini, bagel, toast, sourdough bread

If you like it, also try: Cypress Grove Meyer Lemon Chevre; Vermont Creamery Blueberry Lemon Thyme Chevre; La Bonne Vie Cranberry Cinnamon Chevre; Euphoric Cheese Shop Garden Goat Spread; Drunken Goat

Fun Fact: Fresh goat cheese is also called “chevre” (pronounced “shev”), which is simply the French word meaning “goat.” Plain chevre, which is the base we use for this cheese, can be blended with a wide variety of ingredients to create a nearly unlimited array of spread options.

From the cheesemaker: We take dense, tangy, citrusy fresh chevre and make it our own by adding toasted walnuts, honey and cinnamon. The resulting spread is creamy, sweet, tangy and perfect for spreading on a cracker, baguette, bagel or toast. While we don’t fancy ourselves cheesemakers at Euphoric, we do love to create house-made spreads and dips that are perfect for including on charcuterie boards.

About the cheesemaker: Euphoric Cheese Shop is Knoxville’s only cut-to-order cheese shop featuring 100+ cheeses from around the world. Locally owned and operated by best friends Amy and Cheri, the cheese shop is designed to offer everything you need to make a charcuterie board from cheese and crackers to meats, jams and hundreds of other goodies!

Name: Excellence
Style: Bloomy Rind, Triple Creme
Milk: Cow
Pasteurized: Yes
Aging: 2-3 weeks
Producer: Fromagerie Guilloteau
Country of Origin: France
Tasting Notes: Excellence is a triple cream, bloomy-rind cheese that is a next-level brie. It is rich and buttery with a firm yet velvety texture.    
Pairing suggestions: Ripe berries, gin cocktails or champagne, warm baguette, pepper jelly, fig jam

If you like it, also try: Fromager d’Affinois, Saint Angel, Robiola Bosina, Brillat-Savarin, Camembert

Fun Fact: Excellence, along with many other cheeses made today, is made using microbial enzymes. These enzymes replace the traditional animal rennet, making it a vegetarian-friendly cheese. Microbial enzymes are derived from fungi, mold or yeasts and serve to break down the milk proteins to create curds.

About the cheesemaker: Fromagerie Guilloteau was founded in the 1980s in the Rhone-Alps region of France by the Guilloteaus, a visionary husband and wife team who set out to change the world of cheesemaking. They pioneered the use of ultrafiltration in cheesemaking, which helps expel excess moisture while retaining nutrients and minerals.

Name: Rogue River Blue 2024
Style: Blue
Milk: Cow
Pasteurized: Yes
Aging: 18+ months
Producer: Rogue Creamery
Country of Origin: United States – Oregon
Tasting Notes: Pear brandy, vanilla, toffee, truffle, fig
Pairing Suggestions:  Fruit compote; Viognier, classic French or German Gewurztraminers, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, and Sauternes; Hazelnut Porter or Chocolate Stout; pear brandy, whiskey, and bourbon.

If you like it, also try: Rogue River Blue 2025, Shakerag Blue, Fior d’Arancio, Withersbrook, Negroni, Rogue Creamery Caveman

Fun Fact: Rogue River Blue was the first (and, so far, only) American cheese to be named the best cheese in the world at the World Cheese Awards. It is wrapped in Syrah leaves that have been soaked in a pear liqueur. The 2024 vintage is softer, bolder and has developed a nice presence of tyrosine crystals, which give a crunchy texture to an otherwise creamy cheese. Everything is edible, including the Syrah leaves.

About the cheesemaker: Rogue Creamery’s history dates back to 1933, but it is the innovation the creamery has pursued since the new millennium that has earned this cheesemaker its international reputation for excellence. Rogue Creamery developed the first smoked blue cheese (Rogue Smokey Blue), was named World Champion at the 2019/2020 World Cheese Awards, and has earned Certified Organic labels for its blue cheeses and cheddars while maintaining their deep commitment to service and sustainability.

Name: Walden
Style: Bloomy
Milk: Cow
Pasteurized: Yes
Aging: 4 weeks
Producer: Sequatchie Cove Creamery
Country of Origin: United States – Tennessee
Tasting Notes: Chopped walnuts, sauteed mushrooms, cultured butter
Pairing suggestions: Crusty bread, honey, apples, pears; crisp white wines; light, fruity red wines

If you like it, also try: Harbison, Rockets Robiola, Oma, Willoughby, Maia, Robiola Bosina, Brebicet

Fun Fact: Walden is a descendent of another cheese once made by Sequatchie Cove Creamery called Dancing Fern. The cheesemaker, Nathan Arnold, traveled to France to learn how to make Reblochon-style cheese, which is made with raw milk and aged less than 60 days, and therefore cannot be imported into the U.S. He used this knowledge to create Dancing Fern, which eventually resulted in the creation of a smaller version — the Walden you are now enjoying.

About the cheesemaker: Husband and wife team Nathan and Padgett Arnold have been making cheese in east Tennessee for over a decade. Their efforts have resulted in seven American Cheese Society (ACS) awards, and many millions of happy taste buds! We visited their location just outside Chattanooga a couple of years ago and were amazed at the humble facility and small but mighty team making these award-winning cheeses.

Name: Toma
Style: Table cheese / Misfit
Milk: Cow
Pasteurized: Yes
Aging: 90 days
Producer: Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company
Country of Origin: United States – California
Tasting Notes: Creamy, buttery; grassy finish
Pairing Suggestions: Peaches, toasted nuts, pinot noir, barrel-aged Scotch. And definitely use it for a grilled cheese sandwich!

If you like it, also try: Carmody, Sleeping Beauty, Fontina Fontal, Mahon, Double Cream Gouda, Young Marieke Gouda

Fun Fact: In Italian, “Toma” means “wheel of cheese made by the farmer herself” — and we had the opportunity to meet and talk with Diana Giacomini Hagan, one of the three sisters who own and operate Point Reyes, at a food show earlier this year. One of the best things about the cheese business is how short the supply chain can be — cheesemaker, distributor, retailer (us), consumer (you!). We love meeting cheesemakers and learning more about their passion for all things cheese!

About the Cheesemaker: The Point Reyes story begins in 1901 (you can read about it on their website) and Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company is still family run as a woman-owned business led by sisters Jill, Lynn and Diana who are Co-CEOs of this award-winning cheesemaker. As a farmstead cheesemaker, they have complete control of the process from what their herd of Holstein cows feeds on to the aging and perfection of their cheese.

Name: Seascape
Style: Semi-Firm
Milk: Cow and goat
Pasteurized: Yes
Aging: 4+ months
Producer: Central Coast Creamery
Country of Origin: United States – California
Tasting Notes: Nutty, sweet, brown butter, caramel
Pairing Suggestions: Marcona almonds, sour cherry jam, apple maple bacon jam

If you like it, also try: Midnight Moon, Menage, Faultline, Ewereka, Dutch Girl, Ewenique

Fun Fact: Cheese is both a science and an art, which means some cheeses defy categorization. Is it a cheddar? A gouda? Something else? Cheeses like this one don’t need a label to be appreciated, but clues can be found in their tasting notes and descriptions for those who know what to look for. Is it a little bit sweet and maybe smooth? Those are characteristics inherent to gouda-style cheeses, where the curd is washed before the cheese is pressed into a form. Is it kind of dense? That’s a little like a cheddar, which would be cut and stacked to press out moisture, or like an alpine style, which is also pressed to expel the whey and results in a smooth, firm cheese.

About the Cheesemaker: Central Coast Creamery shares a location with Shooting Star Creamery and has even provided mentorship and advice to Shooting Star Creamery — a beautiful picture of how tight-knit the cheesemaking industry is. We visited the Central Coast Creamery production facility a couple years ago and loved seeing where they produce and age their cheeses.

Name: Truffle Cordero
Style: Manchego-like
Milk: Sheep
Pasteurized: Yes
Aging: 120 days
Producer: Ponce de Leon Cheese
Country of Origin: Spain
Tasting Notes: Nutty, salty, rich mushroom and umami
Pairing Suggestions: Honey, tart jam (raspberry), Marcona almonds, olives, prosciutto; Pinot Noir, Riesling, light ale.

If you like it, also try: Truffle Gouda, Hornbacher, Truffle Tremor, Sottocenere al Tartufo, Truf Tre Latti, Wooly Wooly Black Garlic, Manchego

Fun Fact: This cheese is part of a line of cheeses, meats and accoutrements selected by Chef José Andrés.

About the cheesemaker: Ponce de León is a label created to highlight Spanish cheese from a variety of cheese makers across Spain, frequently from smaller herds of sheep.

Name: Isle of Mull
Style: Cheddar
Milk: Cow
Pasteurized: No
Aging: 10-16 months
Producer: Sgriob-Ruadh Farm / Reade Family
Country of Origin: Scotland
Tasting Notes: Flavors range from juicy and zesty to boozy and deeply savory
Pairing Suggestions: Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, dry cider, dark ale, hot honey, chutney, dried figs, dried dates

If you like it, also try: Cabot Clothbound Cheddar; Vault No. 5, Montgomery’s Cheddar, 1833 Cheddar

Fun Fact: The Reade family uses unpasteurized milk in their cheesemaking process, letting the natural micro flora milk from their herd of dairy cows shape the texture and flavor of each Isle of Mull Cheese. Using unpasteurized (or “raw”) milk also allows for a diverse flora of good bacteria. As a result, no two batches of Isle of Mull Cheese are exactly the same!

About the Cheesemaker: The Reade family are self-taught cheesemakers who have been producing cheese on their family farm, which was originally located in Somerset, England, and later moved to the Isle of Mull off the coast of Scotland since the 1980s.

Name: Shadow Blossom
Style: Alpine
Milk: Cow
Pasteurized: Thermized (not heated to as high a temperature as pasteurization)
Aging: 3 months
Producer: Hofkaserei Kraus
Country of Origin: Germany
Tasting Notes: Nutty, peppery, savory
Pairing Suggestions: Honey, dark chocolate, blueberry jam, Marcona almonds, pickled veggies, olives; Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Pinot Noir, Chenin Blanc

If you like it, also try: Rockflower, Hornbacher, Challerhocker, Peppercorn Gouda, Alp Blossom

Fun Fact: This cheese was created in partnership with Michelin star restaurant Schattbuch in Amtzell in the Allgäu. Cheesemaker Albert Kraus is a big fan of the restaurant’s innovative cuisine, and the restaurant’s employees love the cheeses from his dairy. After a lot of “talking shop” together during a few dinners, this completely new creation came about. This cheese is encrusted with Wild Madagascar pepper, Long Pepper, tailed pepper, kampot pepper, pink peppercorn berries and cardamom.

About the cheesemaker: Albert Kraus and his team have been producing cheese from the best Allgäu milk since March 1999 at the Hofkäserei Kraus cheese dairy in Ebersbach near Obergünzburg. This milk comes from two traditional Allgäu farms that are only five kilometers away from the cheese dairy.

Name: Brabander
Style: Gouda
Milk: Goat
Pasteurized: Yes
Aging: 6-9 months
Producer: Fromagerie L’Amuse
Country of Origin: Netherlands
Tasting Notes: Sweet, tangy, caramel
Pairing Suggestions: Fig or cherry jam, apples, pairs, walnuts, salami, prosciutto, sea salt crackers, German Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, amber ale, wheat beer

If you like it, also try: Midnight Moon, Dutch Girl, Honeybee Goat Gouda, Fourmage, Drunken Goat, Rispens

Fun Fact: Gouda is known for its ultra-smooth texture, which is a result of the cheesemaking process. After the curds are made but before pressing them into a cheese form in the classic gouda wheel shape, the curds are washed. This expels more of the whey and contributes to the cheese’s smooth final texture. Additionally, this cheese is aged in warehouses without refrigeration, which contributes to the unique flavor of Brabander!

About the Cheesemaker: Betty Koster founded Fromagerie l’Amuse in 1989 with her husband Martin. She specializes in finding small-production cheesemakers in Holland and operates two retail shops in addition to working with Essex cheese to export cheeses such as Brabander and Rispens.

Name: Mountaineer
Style: Alpine
Milk: Cow
Pasteurized: No
Aging: 6 months
Producer: Meadow Creek Dairy
Country of Origin: United States – Virginia
Tasting Notes: Roasted nuttiness, mellowing into a rich, beefy finish with a touch of caramel
Pairing Suggestions: Mango chutney, grapes, almonds, truffle honey, quince paste, spicy mustard, caramelized onion jam; Viognier, Riesling, oaky Chardonnay; Merlot; Syrah; Belgian ale, hoppy ale, hefeweizen; apple cider

If you like it, also try: Appalachian, Rockflower, Challerhocker, Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Grayson, Raclette, Coppinger, Morbier

Fun Fact: Of all the cheeses made by Meadow Creek Dairy, only Mountaineer gets aged on wooden shelves, and for good reason. Getting natural brushed rinds that will last last six months or more, they’ve found, just doesn’t work on wire racks; they need to sit on something nicely organic, like wood, that will pull moisture into itself when the rinds get too wet and, conversely, release it if the rinds are too dry. But wooden shelving is a lot less convenient than wire racks, and they only have space for one bank of shelves in their cellars; once it’s full, they can’t make any more Mountaineer.

About the Cheesemaker: Seasonal grazers and mountain pastures have been a key component of Alpine cheesemaking for centuries. Set high in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, Meadow Creek Dairy has the same mix of high, rolling land and temperate climates. With a little time and a lot of management, these mountains have become a haven for sturdy, diverse perennial pastures.

Each of their cheeses has its own original recipe and its own specialized make process; the use of seasonal raw milk means no two makes are the same. 

Name: Valserena Parmigiano Reggiano
Style: Hard
Milk: Cow
Pasteurized: No
Aging: 24 months
Producer: Valserena / The Serra Family
Country of Origin: Italy
Tasting Notes: Nutty, rich, acidic
Pairing Suggestions: Honey and black pepper, balsamic vinegar, prosciutto, speck, peaches, dried apricots, grissini crackers or baguette, Prosecco, Sangiovese, Barolo

If you like it, also try: Grana Padano, Asiago Vecchio, Piave Vecchio, Mimolette, Prima Donna Maturo

Fun Fact: Parmigiano Reggiano is known as The King of Cheese — a fitting selection for the final day of advent and the celebration of the birth of Jesus, the King. This world-famous cheese has lots of fun facts, including:

• One ounce contains 20% of your daily protein needs
• The Valserena Parmigiano Reggiano is made from the milk of Brown cows
• Only 16 wheels of Valserena are made each day

About the cheesemaker: Tradition, quality, love for a timeless product: these are the values ​​that have always inspired and guided the Valserena farm, whose history is closely linked to that of the family Serra a Gainago, which in 1879 bought the farm and the outbuildings that the company occupies today.

Since then the family has dedicated themselves exclusively to the breeding of Brown breed cows, whose precious milk is transformed into the cheese known as il Parmigiano Reggiano “only Bruna” Valserena.