Thinking back on the year in cheese puts me in an uneasy mood, to be honest. Independent cheese shops are struggling or shuttering. Importers are grappling with tariffs and paralyzing uncertainty. Retail cheese prices are giving me heartburn, and I worry that consumers will start trading down or just doing without. On the other hand…great cheese continues to deliver so much pleasure and value, a ready-to-eat shareable artisan food that elevates everyday meals. Here are a few—not all new, but new to me—that made the biggest impression this year.
Read moreGold-Standard Manchego
I love aged sheep cheeses so much that even a mediocre one will tempt me. But a sublime Manchego like the one pictured here makes me greedy. I don’t want to share it; I want to hoard it. You have the Brie, honey. The Manchego’s all mine. Of course, I also want every cheese lover to know about it, and buy it, so that we keep the shipments coming. Manchego is Spain’s top-selling cheese by a mile, with 61 different producers. But if you want to taste the gold standard, in my view it’s this one.
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