25 Essential American Cheeses
From Food & Wine — March 2026
A beautifully photographed editorial celebrating artisanal American cheesemaking across the United States. From creamy bloomy-rind cheeses to pungent washed-rind varieties and celebrated blue cheeses, this spread captures the craftsmanship, regional identity, and aesthetic richness of contemporary dairy culture.
The feature highlights small-batch producers, farmstead traditions, and regional flavor profiles spanning Maine, Vermont, Wisconsin, Oregon, Pennsylvania, California, and beyond.
1. Up North Applewood Cold Smoked Ricotta
Crooked Face Creamery — Skowhegan, Maine
Amy Rowbottom cold-smokes small rounds of her milk-sweet ricotta over local applewood, adding a hint of campfire.
Andante Dairy — Petaluma, California
Pamela Sawtelle Sammis is famous among California chefs for her nuanced cow’s milk cheeses.
Capriole Goat Cheese — Greenville, Indiana
Judy Schad dusts her fluffy goat cheese with ash, then ages it so that a thin, moist silver rind forms around it.
Spruce Reserve, FireFly Farms — Accident, Maryland
Prepared to be swept off to the woods on a gust of juniper and mushrooms when you taste this pudding-soft goat cheese wrapped in bark.
Four Fat Fowl — Stephentown, New York
This triple crème was created by a family of self-proclaimed “maniacal cheese lovers.”
Valley Milkhouse — Oley, Pennsylvania
This downy small-batch cow-milk cheese is custardy with notes of steamed cauliflower.
Lakin’s Gorges Cheese — Waldoboro, Maine
A seaweed-laced organic cow-milk cheese inspired by the farm’s mossy shoreline.
Perrystead Dairy — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
From a tiny urban creamery, it’s gooey and buttery with an olive note.
These moist, aromatic, washed-rind discs are bathed in brine or booze in the cheese cave.
Blakesville Creamery — Port Washington, Wisconsin
Cheesemaking phenom Veronica Pedraza bathes goat cheese tufts in cherry beer creating luxurious cushiony fruity funk.
Meadow Creek Dairy — Galax, Virginia
This unctuous square is made by a mother-daughter team in Appalachia.
Cato Corner Farm — Colchester, Connecticut
A sublime stink bomb made with rich raw milk.
Boxcarr Handmade Cheese — Cedar Grove, North Carolina
This creamy campfire version of Italian Taleggio is lush, funky, and doughy.
Uplands Cheese — Dodgeville, Wisconsin
Made only in autumn, this silky, fondue-like round from raw cow milk comes belted in spruce bark.
Cherry Grove Farm — Lawrenceville, New Jersey
This boozy, pâté-like wonder is washed in local whiskey and wrapped in fig leaves.
A “cheddaring” process makes these cheeses dense but also crumbly.
15. Cabot Clothbound Cheddar
Jasper Hill Farm — Greensboro, Vermont
Earthy with notes of caramel.
16. 2-Year Cheddar (Extra Sharp)
Shelburne Farms — Shelburne, Vermont
The gold standard for sharp block cheddar.
Mystic Cheese — Groton, Connecticut
This American homage to Wensleydale evokes sour cream, wet stone, and buttered popcorn.
Roelli Cheese Haus — Shullsburg, Wisconsin
A cheddar-blue hybrid: mellow and buttery, with a hint of blue cheese.
Ranging from firm to hard, these hefty hunks are aged to evaporate moisture and develop flavors.
19. Finger Lakes Gold Reserve
Lively Run Goat Dairy — Interlaken, New York
This stunning goat Gouda is sweet, nutty, and grassy.
Landmark Creamery — Paoli, Wisconsin
An earthy-sweet aged Alpine-style cheese made with milk from pasture-grazed cows.
Jasper Hill Farm — Greensboro, Vermont
This dense wheel was created exclusively for Saxelby Cheesemongers in New York City.
Parish Hill Creamery — Westminster West, Vermont
This renowned aged raw-milk cheese is made without commercial starter cultures.
Vermont Shepherd — Westminster West, Vermont
Made on a solar-powered farm and aged in a hillside cave.
To make these bold-tasting cheeses, blue mold is added to the milk, then wheels are pierced and left to oxidize so veins form.
Birchrun Hills Farm — Chester Springs, Pennsylvania
A Stilton-style blue made from raw farmstead milk.
Rogue Creamery — Central Point, Oregon
Wrapped in Syrah grape leaves that have been soaked in pear spirits, this organic cow-milk blue is fruity, slippery-soft, and complex.
Published in:
Food & Wine — March 2026
