Specialty Cheeses

This is one of the few Manchegos that is hand made with unpasteurized milk from a single herd, aged with an unwaxed rind. Like with Essex’s other cheeses, they focus on a flavor profile, not a particular age or price. Each Manchego Essex offers has been selected just for them on site. They select for sweetness and balance, avoiding the overly salted and fiery flavors that afflict...

Gruyère Alpage is made essentially as Gruyère was 100 years ago. From April through October, the tradition of transhumance takes place. During the springtime, cheesemaking families move their herds from the lowlands up to Alpine mountain chalets. The grasses, flowers and herbs flourish during the warm months, producing lush feed for the cows. Wheels of cheese are produced in the...

An early pioneer in the resurgence of Irish farmhouse cheese, cheesemaker Jeffa Gill began simply at the kitchen stove. Even in her larger operation today, Durrus is made in traditional Swiss-style copper kettles and its are curds cut by hand. To produce the cheese, she uses the milk from two neighboring herds of Friesian cows in County Cork, Ireland. Cows graze on coastal pastures...

This truffle studded raw milk gouda is also farmstead; meaning the creamery not only makes the cheeses, they’re also the farmers taking care of the dairy animals. By doing so, the cheesemakers can make sure that the milk is high quality.

A member of the Port-du-Salut family, it can be recognized by its fine, moist rind, its yielding texture, and its slightly salty taste. For all its natural mildness, it has both taste and character! With its nice semi-soft texture, this French cheese has a smooth fruity taste with a slightly stronger finish.

Melkbus237 Original is a traditional raw cow’s milk Boerenkaas, or “farmer’s cheese”. Made by hand, it develops a rich sweet cream taste with a hint of Brazil nut and dried apricots after 9-10 months of aging.

Arpea de Brebis hails from the Basque area in the Aquitaine region of France, near the Spanish border. Made from pasteurized sheep’s milk, this semi-firm cheese is remarkably fresh and grassy, with a creamy paste and sandy washed-rind. Although Basque cider may be more difficult to come by in the United States, any dry, crisp cider or funky Belgian geuze would be a refreshing...

This is a soft-ripened goat milk camembert. Distinctive goat aroma witha creamy, milky, and clean goat milk flavor.

Kunik is a unique and voluptuous triple crème cheese only made in Thurman, New York in the Warrensburg area at the Nettle Meadow family farm. It is a white, mold-ripened wheel made from goat’s milk and Jersey cow cream. The blend makes Kunik far richer and more flavorful than a brie-type cheese yet more subtle and sumptuous than similarly ripened goat cheeses.

Simply sheep is a semi-aged 100% sheep milk disk. The flavor ranges from smooth to robust as it ages.