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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
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    • Cheese Library
  • Store
    • All Items
    • World Cheese Tour
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    • World Cheese Tour Classes
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Superstar New Cheeses from Europe

May 23, 2023 janet@janetfletcher.com

“How many cheeses do you have to eat to become a cheese expert?” someone asked me recently. As if there’s a checklist. I’m not counting, but I did add several remarkable new cheeses to my life list last week. I led a tasting of “New Arrivals from Europe,” including the beauty pictured above, and I was blown away by these newcomers.

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In From: France, From: Germany, From: Spain Tags Robiola, water buffalo cheese, Robiola Cavina, Nieve de Cabra, Red Casanova, Agour, Basque cheese, Ossau-Iraty, Opari, new cheeses
Comment

Cheese Whisperer

June 18, 2019 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 200 _DSC8878.jpg

When I see the name Rodolph Le Meunier on a new cheese, it’s my signal to seek no further. That’s the cheese I want. Le Meunier is a cheese whisperer, uncovering little-known gems in. hidden corners of France and maturing young cheeses made by others. Some of the cheeses in his product line are exclusive to him, like this crusty wheel from the Pyrenees. To know it is to love it.

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In From: France, Milk: Goat, Milk: Sheep Tags Rodolph Le Meunier, French cheese, Basque cheese, Pyrenees, mixed-milk cheese, Cheese Shop of Carmel, Ossau-Iraty
4 Comments

Us Versus Them

January 15, 2019 janet@janetfletcher.com
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Most of the time, I aim to create a balanced cheese board for guests. Something fresh with something aged. A creamy cheese and a firm one. A range of flavors from mild to strong. Cow, goat and sheep. But sometimes I take a page from the wine world. Wine people love comparative tastings. My first date with my winemaker husband was a dinner party and wine tasting, with Pinots from around the world tasted blind. (Nobody nailed them.) A cheese course featuring the same style from two or three different producers can be illuminating, or at least get a conversation going.

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Tags Jasper Hill, Moses Sleeper, Camembert, Herve Mons, Bleu Mont Cheddar, Face Rock Creamery, Westcombe Cheddar, Central Coast Creamery, Shepherd’s Way, Ossau-Iraty, cheese tasting, comparative tasting
8 Comments

Superstar Cheeses of 2018

December 18, 2018 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 66 _DSC7223.jpg

Every week, merchants restock their counters with the cheeses they think you want. And then You the People get to choose. Often, you’re predictable (you do love those triple-creams), but sometimes you surprise retailers with your willingness to embrace the new. I’ve been showcasing my discoveries all year in Planet Cheese so thought I would ask some leading merchants what you have liked best. From coast to coast, here are some of your favorites, the breakout stars of 2018. Great choices, People!

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In From: U.S., From: France, From: Italy, Milk: Cow, Milk: Sheep Tags Capriole, Carles, Roquefort, Beillevaire, Ossau-Iraty, Jasper Hill Farm, Cowgirl Creamery, cottage cheese, Salers, Beaufort, Redhead Creamery, Carles Roquefort, Prairie Breeze, Dream Weaver, Central Coast Creamery, Maison de la Truffe, Alp Blossom, Grazin Girl
2 Comments

Gone for Good?

March 13, 2018 janet@janetfletcher.com
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It felt like a death in the family. And I didn’t even get to say goodbye. Learning that I might never again taste Abbaye de Belloc, one of my favorite French cheeses, made me frustrated and angry. (What are those four stages of grief?) The Benedictine monks who make this lovely Basque sheep cheese have decided not to share with the U.S. any longer. Who can blame them? And, alas, they aren’t the only European cheesemakers to reach this decision.

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In From: France, Milk: Sheep Tags Abbaye de Belloc, Basque cheese, Secret de Compostelle, FDA and cheese, Ossau-Iraty, Agour, Petit Agour, Tomme Brulée, Pascal Beillevaire, Tomme de Fédou, World's Best Cheese, Food Matters Again
17 Comments

New Beauty from Basque Country

September 27, 2016 janet@janetfletcher.com
Arpea

Innovation isn’t a word I associate with Basque cheesemakers, but the sublime sheep’s-milk Arpea is reason to rethink that. Created about three years ago by the Fromagerie Agour, Arpea resembles no other Basque cheese I know. A small, semisoft disk from an area known almost exclusively for hard aged wheels, it represents new thinking in this tradition-bound region.

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In Milk: Sheep, From: France Tags Basque cheese, Fromagerie Agour, Pyrenees cheese, Ossau-Iraty
12 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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