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Janet Fletcher

180 Stonecrest Dr
Napa, CA, 94558
(707) 265-0404
{ Janet Fletcher / Food Writer }

{ Janet Fletcher / Food Writer }

Janet Fletcher

  • Home
  • About
    • About Janet
    • Media
    • Client List
    • Contact
  • Planet Cheese
    • Planet Cheese Blog
    • Planet Cheese Signup
    • Cheese Library
  • Store
    • All Items
    • World Cheese Tour
    • Books
  • Classes
    • World Cheese Tour Classes
    • Other Classes & Events
    • Custom Class/Event Request
    • Cheese O'Clock Video Archive
  • Recipes
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Autumn
    • Winter
    • Comfort

America’s Newest Cheese Gems

May 5, 2025 Douglas Fletcher
My favorite for American Cheese Month

(l to r) Withersbrook Blue; Jake and Sylvia Stoltzfus of Jake’s Gouda; Shabby Shoe

American Cheese Month is a time for celebration and optimism. So here’s my toast to several new (or newish) domestic cheeses that make me especially proud of our artisan producers and hopeful for their future. In alpha order:

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In From: U.S. Tags American Cheese Month, tariffs on cheese, American Cheese Society, Mt. Eitan Cheese, Goat Rodeo Farm, Shooting Star Creamery, Firefly Farms, Mystic Cheese, Jake’s Gouda, Blakesville Creamery, Jasper Hill Farm
6 Comments

Born in the U.S.A.

May 1, 2024 janet@janetfletcher.com

Needless to say, it’s never not American Cheese Month at my house. But in May it’s official. This is the month when cheese merchants give American cheeses extra love—with tastings, cheesemaker appearances, special pricing and other incentives to get you in the store and buying domestic. Keep your eyes out for any festivities or promotions where you shop.

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In From: U.S. Tags American Cheese Month, American cheese, Monterey Jack, cottage cheese, Good Culture Cottage Cheese, Widmer’s Cheese, brick cheese
16 Comments

Best New American Cheeses? Ask a Monger

May 3, 2023 janet@janetfletcher.com

Monger favorite: Alemar Cheese Apricity

After a long pandemic pause, American creameries are launching new cheeses again. Hooray! Optimism is trouncing uncertainty and yielding some exciting newcomers for our cheese boards. American Cheese Month—that would be May—is a great time to celebrate this creativity and encourage our cheesemakers to keep at it. I asked some of the nation’s leading retailers to name a new domestic cheese that they’re loving. Consider this your bucket list for the months ahead.

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Tags new American cheeses, American artisan cheese, American Cheese Month, Meadow Creek Dairy, Alemar Cheese, Mystic Cheese, Stony Pond Farm, Blakesville Creamery, Sartori, Sweet Grass Dairy, Sequatchie Cove, BellaVitano
12 Comments

Pandemic’s Silver Lining

May 17, 2021 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 41 _DSC4169.jpg

There aren’t many silver linings to this pandemic but here’s one: it spurred the development of a new fresh sheep cheese from Bellwether Farms. With restaurant sales of its aged cheeses plummeting—from 300 wheels a week to five—the California creamery ramped up its plan to launch a sheep’s milk version of fresh chèvre. Just a few days old when released, this dreamy toast-ready cheese is what pandemic-weary consumers want now, says Callahan. I’m loving it on crostini with carrots and dukkah.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Sheep Tags Bellwether Farms, crostini, sheep cheese, American Cheese Month, chèvre, California cheese, fresh cheese, Cakebread Cellars
2 Comments

Hello Gorgeous!

May 11, 2021 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 578 _DSC4104.jpg

Could cheese get any prettier? This new beauty from Jasper Hill Farm gets top marks for appearance (from me, at least) and extra credit for being made with raw milk. Plus, it’s a mixed-milk blue—half cow, half goat—a rare taste experience. Jasper Hill has already proven its blue expertise with the exquisite Bayley Hazen. Has this Vermont creamery nailed yet another one?

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In From: U.S., Milk: Cow, Milk: Goat, Milk: Mixed Tags Jasper Hill Farm, American Cheese Month, blue cheese, American cheese, American artisan cheese, Vermont, Vermont cheese, mixed-milk cheese
6 Comments

Top Cheese Merchant Looks Ahead

May 5, 2021 janet@janetfletcher.com
Anne Saxelby/Photo: Christine Han

Anne Saxelby/Photo: Christine Han

She’s a superstar of American cheese, sourcing the best from around the country for her acclaimed Manhattan shop and wholesale business. Pre-pandemic, Anne Saxelby supplied cheese to almost every New York City restaurant that cared about serving the best. But what a year. “Our two biggest revenue streams just disappeared overnight,” says Saxelby, the founder of Saxelby Cheesemongers. Given that May is American Cheese Month, I wanted to hear her views on how the pandemic has changed the cheese landscape. And, of course, I asked her to curate a cheese board featuring three American cheeses she’s loving right now.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Cow, Milk: Goat, Milk: Sheep Tags Anne Saxelby, Saxelby Cheesemongers, American cheese, American Cheese Month
1 Comment

Something to Celebrate

April 23, 2020 janet@janetfletcher.com
Cheese-oclock-banner1.jpg

American Cheese Month is just around the corner. What better time to show our nation’s cheesemakers some love? Over four Thursdays in May, I’ll be partnering with cheese expert Laura Werlin and top California wineries to bring you the best in American artisan cheese and wine and to support our cheesemakers in these challenging times.

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In From: U.S. Tags cheese class, American cheese, California wine, American Cheese Month, Laura Werlin, virtual tastsing, Cheese O'Clock
7 Comments

Laura Werlin’s Cheese Board

October 9, 2018 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 09 _DSC6310.jpg

It may be American Cheese Month, but for me, everymonth is American Cheese Month. Heck, every dayis. It’s been that way for twenty years, having been an American cheese enthusiast and cheerleader all my cheese life. And so it is that when the Planet Cheesemaven herself invited me to write a guest post on my passion subject, I answered with an enthusiastic, “Yes!” Not only was I thrilled to be asked to do this, but I was especially happy to be shining the light on five American cheeses and cheesemakers by way of Planet Cheese.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Cow, Milk: Goat Tags American Cheese Month, Laura Werlin, Cowgirl Creamery, Chimney Rock, Capriole Cheese, goat cheese, Judy Schad, Flory’s Truckle, Milton Creamery, Old Chatham Sheepherding Company, sheep cheese, Roth Cheese, Wisconsin cheese
10 Comments
 

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Welcome to my world: a fragrant, fascinating universe devoted to great cheese. In this and future Planet Cheese posts, you’ll find profiles of the world’s best cheeses plus insights into everything cheese: shops, recipes, interviews, pairing discoveries, classes, videos, travel. If you haven’t already done so, sign up here - it’s complimentary - and join me in learning something new about cheese every week.


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     Photographs: Douglas Fletcher, Ed Anderson, Megan Clouse, Faith Echtermeyer, Eva Kolenko,
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