4 Tips for Choosing Splurge Cheeses from Cheesemongers

Rogue River Blue on a plate photo courtesy Rogue River Creamery

Good cheese—even great cheese—doesn’t always have to be expensive, but often it is. Manual production, and care of cheese are labor-intensive endeavors, and small-scale operations making farmstead and craft cheeses are less efficient and can’t match the low price point of mass-produced cheeses. While we’ve previously focused on great values to be found when buying cheese, there are also situations where consumers should bend the budget, throw fiscal conservatism to the wind, and splurge to get a truly sublime cheese. Like the old saying goes, “You get what you pay for.”

Go Seasonal

Any special occasion--or even a particularly difficult day—can warrant a treat, but with the fall and winter holidays approaching, cheese retailers are offering even more cheeses that are without a doubt worth the splurge. Molly Hess, head cheesemonger at Marche’, Glen Ellyn, Ill., says customers have become accustomed to spectacular, limited release seasonals. “The two biggest requests are definitely Rogue River Blue and Brabander Reserve, she says. “As summer winds down, customers will start asking for them.” Read more about Rogue River Blue.

Holiday Cheer soft goat cheese — Holiday Cheer photo credit Blakesville Creamery

Hess, an ACS Certified Cheese Professional (CCP), and three-time Cheese Monger Invitational competitor, says her favorite splurges include a couple from three-year-old Blakesville Creamery, a farmstead producer in Port Washington, Wis. “We are big fans of the Blakesville holiday specials. Holiday Cheer and Truffle Shuffle are absolutely fantastic treats,” she says. “Holiday Cheer is the most perfect little puck of soft goat cheese with orange zest folded in, wrapped in a Sakura leaf that’s soaked in Korbel brandy.” Hess says it evokes Wisconsin’s favorite cocktail. “A Wisconsin old fashioned, in dreamy chèvre form.” Truffle Shuffle is another bloomy goat milk beauty with a luscious line of Italian black truffle tapenade. Read more about Blakesville Creamery.

Presentation Matters

Asked about a single favorite, Hess doesn’t hesitate. “Rush Creek Reserve is my all-time favorite,” Hess says. “It is my go-to for gatherings with friends or sharing with family. It is truly a warm hug wrapped in spruce bark.” The Vacheron-style cheese from Uplands Cheese, Dodgeville, Wis., is made from fall milk, and available for a limited time each year, but a few other artisan producers make cheeses in this bark-wrapped style throughout much of the year. See Harbison and Quinta in our list below.

A More Expensive Version of a Staple

At Potash Markets in Chicago, we carry cheeses that cover the price spectrum, but splurge cheeses are certainly among the favorite. Just a few weeks ago we received two wheels of Rogue River Blue, the spectacular annual from Rogue Creamery. I have swooned previously in this space about Rogue River Blue, but let me tell you now that I never tire of it. Because of the way it is made, and the way Rogue Creamery operates, this cheese commands a very high price--nearly $60 a pound for our customers this year. Rogue Creamery checks all the boxes in terms of quality, and responsibility, and as a result, most Rogue cheeses are sold at higher than average prices. Smokey Blue and Caveman Blue are year-round splurges that are justifiable on so-many levels.

For those customers who are kooky like me about Rogue River Blue, I also suggest Shakerag Blue, from Sequatchie Cove Creamery, Sequatchie, Tenn. Generally available year-round, this cow’s milk blue is wrapped in fig leaves that are first soaked in locally-distilled Tennessee whiskey. This produces a creamy cheese with flavor notes of anise, chocolate and mint julip.

Limited Editions and Reserve Labels

Hess mentions that Brabander Reserve is popular seasonal, and our customers in Chicago look for it too. It’s a specially-selected, extra-aged goat Gouda, made by L’Amuse Creamery in the Netherlands. The year-round Brabander is itself a unique goat Gouda offering sweet and salty flavor notes and a silky texture. The Reserve has an amped flavor with notes of white chocolate and a slightly more dense texture. Read more about L’amuse Signature Gouda.

So, next time you visit a high-quality cheese retailer, think about why you are buying cheese. If it’s just as a great snack, or quality cooking application, think about the value-priced cheeses, but if you want something special, go ahead and splurge. Even the most expensive cheese doesn’t have to break the bank. A small piece can offer an abundance of flavor for two people at the cost of a value-priced wine.

See our list below of other great splurge cheeses. Another way to approach the splurge, particularly when gathering with a bunch of pals, is to buy a single, 2-pound hunk of a quality mid-priced Cheddar, Gouda, or Alpine. Everybody wins! So like your favorite aunt says: Live a little. You deserve it!