Cheese

Pre-packaged. Approx size 6oz

Martin Johnson, Cheesemonger writes:  "Our most popular cheese, this French classic offers well balanced overtones of sweet grass and roasted cashews.  It pairs nicely with a wide variety of red and white wines."

Full Description:

Indulge in the exceptional flavors of the Selected Comté from Marcel Petite, carefully chosen by Essex Street Cheese based on flavor rather than age or price. This Comté reaches you at its peak ripeness, showcasing its beguiling aromas of hazelnuts, fried onions, and spring berries, complemented by hints of cut grass, wet earth, and straw. With its herbaceous and fruity profile, kissed with deep, luscious creaminess, this Comté is a cheese lover's delight. Pair it with crusty baguettes, dried fruits, and a glass of red wine for an exquisite tasting experience.

Ingredients: Raw cow’s milk, salt, cultures, animal rennet

Contains: milk

Background: Marcel Petite was an affineur (ager of cheese) who, in the 1960s, established an aging facility at a former military fort called Fort Saint Antoine. Though Marcel Petite passed away in the 1980s, his legacy and philosophy of aging has endured. Fromageries Marcel Petite specializes in slow, cool maturation of Comté, coaxing out complexity and nuance from the ripening wheels. Marcel Petite was the first person to practice this aging technique and, of the 150 fruitières in the region, the company works with 35. In their words, they are “the biggest of the little affineurs.” 7,000 tons of Comté passes through their caves each year and fruitières deliver cheese roughly twice per month, bringing in anywhere from 20 to 40 wheels at a time, depending on the size of their cooperative.

Is this the best cheese in the world?  This extraordinary Australian delight is made from a blend of goat and sheep's milk then marinated in Extra Virgin Olive Oil with fresh thyme and peppercorns, and it's certainly in the conversation.  

Pair with your favorite fruit forward red,  

Martin Johnson, Cheesemonger

Is it a cheddar or a Gruyere?  

The answer is both!  It's a cheddar highlighted by savor and sharp flavors, but this unique Vermonter is made with some Gruyere cheese culture which yields sweet, nutty overtones too.  It melts beautifully and pairs with your favorite red wines.  

Martin Johnson, Cheesemonger

Lean, savory and sharp, this cheese set the template for what many call Vermont Cheddar. The Shelburne comes from a farm that has diligently made top shelf cheddar for more than 100 years.  

Pair it with your favorite whiskey.

Martin Johnson, Cheesemonger

Epoisses AOC is a soft, cow's milk cheese from France. It is a stinky cheese with a washed, orange rind. Epoisses is a cow's milk fromage from the Cote-d'Or and Burgundy regions of France from the Fromagerie Berthaut. It is superbly creamy with a very intense aroma but a sweet and subtle flavor. During the maturation period, the rind of the cheese is washed with Marc of Burgundy. It adds taste and gives it a wonderful red color. Epoisses is the name of the village in Burgundy where a community of priests developed the production of this specific cheese in the middle of the 16th century. It is now a protected cheese that is only produced in 3 counties in France

Vermont cheesemakers have better things to do with their time than imitate traditional European cheeses; instead, they innovate upon them.  Take Harbison for example, it's a classic brie, full of mushroom-ey and roasted root vegetable flavors, but it's wrapped in spruce bark, which yields a gently earthy, even smokey finish. 

Serving suggestion, let it come to room temperature and slice the top off and dive in with baguette shards, flatbreads or crudite.  If you don't finish the cheese, put the top back on and store in your fridge until next time.  Pair with your favorite Prosecco,    

Martin Johnson, Cheesemonger

Martin Johnson, Cheesemonger, 67Gourmet: Mary Keehn, one of the true originators of the American artisan cheese movement, would like you to know that she saw Jimi Hendrix live at the Fillmore.  She would also like to jazz up a routine fresh chevre with lavender and fennel pollen.  It's perfect for a beet and chive salad, or just on a baguette.  Pair with your favorite Sauvignon Blanc or, if you dare, a Sancerre.

Cypress Grove Description

Subtly sweet with the tangy brightness of fresh goat cheese.

The distinct and unexpected marriage of lavender and hand-harvested fennel pollen makes our lavender cheese Purple Haze® utterly addictive — and unforgettable. We use the finest ingredients for this delicious cheese and always start with the highest quality milk — the building block for our entire line of cheese. No matter what your favorite cheese is, you're sure to enjoy this cheese that is loved by many.

For those with a more intimate gathering, Rush Creek Reserve brings the Vacherin magic but at a smaller denomination, roughly 12 ounces. This Wisconsin delight is from Uplands, the makers of our popular Alpine Cheese, Pleasant Ridge Reserve. It has all of the dense textures and savory autumn flavors of a Fall Classic. 

- Cheesemonger Martin Johnson

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Produced only in the fall, as the diet of our cows begins to change from summer pasture to the winter’s dry hay.  This rich milk is perfect for a cheese like Rush Creek, so soft and decadent that it’s often referred to as savory custard.  Each cheese is wrapped in spruce bark, which gives shape to the cheese and imparts a subtle woodsy flavor.

Before serving Rush Creek, bring the cheese to room temp or warm it gently in an oven.  When using an oven, remove the paper wrapping and either wrap the cheese in tin foil or cover it in a ceramic crock.  Place the cheese in a 250-degree oven for approximately 45 minutes, or until the entire cheese becomes soft and warm.

Use a knife to cut around the perimeter of the cheese, just above the bark.  Lift off the rind and scoop out the soft interior with a spoon.  The rich, savory flavors are deep but delicate, and pair nicely with cured meats, roasted root vegetables and off-dry white wines.

Fudgy, pleasantly dank, and smooth in texture, this complex Vermonter comes from Jasper Hill, the great Northeast Kingdom cheesemakers.  It's slight funk make it the perfect gateway cheese for novices new to washed rind aromas.  Pair it with your favorite Chenin Blanc or Vouvray.  

Martin Johnson, Cheesemonger

Some cheeses from Burgundy area were washed, in the past, with white wine, and that gave them a very rich aromatic perfume.

The cheese dairy Berthaut uses Chablis, a prestigious white wine from Burgundy, to complete the manufacturing process of its Affidélice Berthaut. These regular washings with Chablis gradually stimulate its yellow-orangish ferments, nestled in the heart of the cheese, which clothes itself slowly in a satin flora.

Near maturity, the pigmentation becomes stronger, revealing the full development and harmony of the cheese, as well as the flavors of the Burgundian soils.

Pasteurized milk, vinegar, enzymes, salt. Contains milk. 

At Narragansett Creamery, we make cheese everyday because we love to and because we believe in freshness. We use local milk, kind bacteria, vegetable-based rennet, salt and nothing else. While we are not certified organic, we are thoughtful in our actions and our purchases.  We support fair-trade and local ingredients to the best of our ability and our farmers pledge to not use growth hormones. We are proud to be a family-owned company supported by the Southern New England community we belong to.  

Vermonters typically have better things to do with time than imitate European cheese traditions; instead, they innovate on them.  Lazy Lady Thin Red Line is a great example of this concept.  It's a Loire Valley style ashen pyramid of creamy goat cheese (that's very French) the cheese is bisected by a layer of smoked paprika (that's very Vermont). Pair it with your favorite summery white wine. - Martin Johnson, Cheesemonger | 67Gourmet

Farm Notes: A unique bloomy rind goat’s milk cheese from a 100% off the grid solar and wind powered farm in Vermont. The eponymous ‘thin red line’ is a dusting of smoked paprika, which provides an eye-catching contrast to go along with its tongue-tingling sweet spice. The result is a flavor that is a hybrid of fresh chevre and chorizo. Thin Red Line has quickly become one of our favorite cheeses in the Lazy Lady Farm repertoire.

This double-cream, washed-rind cheese has a soft consistency when young and develops into to a runny, scoop-able cheese as it ages with an earthy, pungent flavors created by a mixture of cultures (yeast, salt, and beer) that's applied on Foxglove's distinctive orange-colored rind

Ingredients: Pasteurized cows milk, salt, vegetarian friendly rennet, calcium chloride, cultures, cheese wash (water, beer, sugar, cultures, citric acid).

Contains Wheat & Dairy

Feta Voras is made in the far Northwestern corner of Greece, in the province of Florina. This is mountainous land, covered in wildflowers and herbs.

It’s about as far away from the island of Lesbos and M. Tastanis’s feta as you can get and still be in Greece, but the cheese is still proper feta, recognized with the PDO protected status for traditional feta.

The small third generation firm, run by brothers Andreas and Sokratis, makes a creamy, crumbly cheese that you’ll want as a staple in your home. 

Rich, richer and richest, this sumptuous, melt on your tongue triple cream is bisected with a layer of black truffle shavings.  It’s aged by the great French affineur Rodolphe Le Meunier.  - Martin Johnson, Cheesemonger

Triple Cream, Rich, Sumptuous, Layered With Black Truffles

Pasteurized cow’s milk | France

Sumptuous and very, very rich, this French triple crème is aged by the masterful Rodolphe Le Munier.

• Martin Johnson, Cheesemonger | 67 Gourmet If you look for light, fresh cheese for whole family, from tolders to Grand'Ma then Cremeux des Citeaux is for you. Nature of together with jam, marmelade or salt and pepper, Cremeux means Creamy. Here you get the full taste of what a fresh artisanal cheese made from selected milk can give: Silky and light, simply very smooth cheese.

Cremeux des Citeaux can be used as a layer to top you finger food: Cremeux + Smoked Salmon or Cremeux with Dried ham or else you like to use as finger food!

Vermont cheesemakers have better things to do with their time than imitate traditional European cheeses; instead, they innovate upon them.  Take Harbison for example, it's a classic brie, full of mushroom-ey and roasted root vegetable flavors, but it's wrapped in spruce bark, which yields a gently earthy, even smokey finish. 

Serving suggestion, let it come to room temperature and slice the top off and dive in with baguette shards, flatbreads or crudite.  If you don't finish the cheese, put the top back on and store in your fridge until next time.  Pair with your favorite Prosecco,    

Martin Johnson, Cheesemonger

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HARBISON is named for Anne Harbison, affectionately known as the grandmother of Greensboro. Along with breathtaking views, traditions and people are part of what makes Vermont's working landscape special; we're proud to honor Ms. Harbison's contribution with this cheese.

Harbison is a soft-ripened cheese with a rustic, bloomy rind. Young cheeses are wrapped in strips of spruce cambium, the tree's inner bark layer, harvested from the woodlands of Jasper Hill. The spoonable texture begins to develop in our vaults, though the paste continues to soften on the way to market. Harbison is woodsy and sweet, balanced with lemon, mustard, and vegetal flavors.

PAIRING AND SERVICE — Harbison is a great excuse to gather a few friends and scoop into a decadent treat. When a bit younger, the bark can be peeled away for sliced portioning. If the bark has fused with a more loosened paste, then the best approach is to leave the bark intact and spoon out portions from the top. Pair with oakey white wine, or barrel-aged sour beer. Fruit mostarda and crusty bread make nice accompaniments.

Traditional Halloumi cheese made out of goat and sheep's milk, imported from Cyprus. Ideal for grilling and frying.

La Tur is a crowd favorite through and through. It’s made of a mixture of cow, sheep, and goat milk by Caseificio dell’Alta Langa in the Piedmont region of Italy. It has a rich, buttery flavor balanced by a little bit of tang. The interior texture is almost mousse-like and then it becomes gooey around the edges.