Elevate your Thanksgiving spread with a thoughtful cheese selection
Pre-Dinner: Appetizers
For the appetizer course, focus on approachable, crowd-pleasing cheeses with a mix of textures and flavors:
Brillat-Savarin, Natural Rind
Brillat Savarin is a cow's milk, triple-crème brie-style cheese from France. This lovely cheese is buttery, rich, creamy and decadent with a rare "natural rind" which is essentially a thin skin.
Parmigiano Reggiano
When cut into, the hard smooth exterior reveals a cheese with perfect crystalline texture, a piquant, salty flavor, and a great aroma. Nebbiolo wines are a sensational match for this King of Cheeses.
Artisanal 12-Year Cheddar
Artisanal 12-year cheddar, from the hills of Wisconsin, is an exquisite taste! Made with cultured cow’s milk, this hand-made Cheddar possesses a one-of-a-kind flavor and texture.
During Dinner: Pairing with the Main Course
For the main course, including turkey, stuffing, and sides, consider cheeses that can blend with the flavors without overpowering them:
Prima Donna
Prima Donna is a relatively mild style of a Dutch Gouda cow's milk cheese. This cheese has an ivory rind with a slight rose blush, a crystalline texture, and a sweet, nutty flavor with a caramel aftertaste.
Geit in Stad
Geit in Stad is a delicious Dutch goat cheese. This cheese has a smooth firm texture that practically melts in your mouth leaving a sweet mild aftertaste, compared to the far more familiar and stronger flavored cow versions.
Fontina Valle d’Aosta
This semi-firm cooked and pressed cheese has a uniquely rich and nutty flavor reminiscent of truffles, with a subtle fruity, grassy aroma and supple texture.
For Dessert: A Sweet Finale
Pairing cheese with dessert can be a delightful ending, especially with seasonal accompaniments:
Stilton, Colston Bassett
Made with the milk from five herds of cows grazing near Colston-Bassett dairy, this hand-made Stilton develops a fine, bark-like natural rind and ample blue veining.
Gouda, 4-Year Old
Gouda is simply unrivaled for that perfect balance of salty and sweet. Deep caramel in color, crunchy, and meltingly smooth on the tongue, this aged cow milk Gouda bursts with flavor.