World Cheese Encyclopaedia - Each Sunday learn all about a cheese in season.

This week Rogue River Blue from the USA.

Country: USA

Region: Oregon

Made from: Cow's Milk

Pasteurised: Yes

Texture: Firm

Taste: salty, savoury, nutty, mushrooms, sweet cream

Certification: no

Ageing: 9 - 18 months

In honor of its win as World’s Best Cheese at the 2019 World Cheese Awards on October 18th – the first win for an American cheese ever – we are having a fresh look today at Rogue River Blue Cheese. Rogue River Blue beat out 3,800 other cheeses from 42 countries to take top honors.

Rogue River Blue is an organic, cave-aged blue cheese made in Oregon at Rogue Creamery. It is made only from the milk of the cows from its herd who graze on native plants and grasses. It is seasonal, made only during autumn when the cows’ milk becomes richer and higher in butterfat. It is released each year in September and available through the beginning of the following year. It is wrapped in Syrah grape leaves that have been soaked in local pear brandy from the Clear Creek distillery.

The paste is shot through with blue veins and becomes slightly crystallized as it ages. It is aged from nine to 18 months. David Gremmels, Rogue’s president and head cheesemaker, began making Rogue River Blue cheese in 2002. He found that milk harvested during the period from the Autumnal Equinox to the Winter Solstice makes the best cheese because the cows are enjoying fresh grass from the pastures after the first rainfalls of the season.

Head cheesemaker Gremmels on tasting the cheese says the action begins on the top and tip of the tongue with salty, savoury flavours. “As the cheese melts across the mid-palate and around the sides of the tongue, it morphs into the meaty, nutty taste of Brazil nuts and, finally, the faintly piney notes of Matsutake mushrooms and sweet cream,”

According to Rogue Creamery, this year's award-winning cheese’s flavor is exceptional, exhibiting fruit, spice, blackberry, vanilla, hazelnut, chocolate and bacon flavors.

History

The Vella family of Rogue Creamery began crafting artisan cheese in southern Oregon during the Depression and even supplied troops with cheddar during WWII. The creamery created many jobs for the area and soon came to focus almost exclusively on making blue cheese. In the early 2000s, Tom Vella’s son, Ig, sold Rogue Creamery to David Gremmels and Cary Bryant, who continue to uphold the practices and principles of artisan cheesemaking that were begun by the Vellas. Over the past ten years, Rogue cheeses have taken the nation, and the American Cheese Society Awards, by storm. With the 2019 World’s Best Cheese Award Rogue River Blue has cemented its place in history as the first American cheese to ever take top honors.

How to enjoy it

Rogue River’s head cheese-maker David Gremmels recommends pairing the cheese with an Oregon Pinot Noir, such as Evesham Wood or Cameron. He also recommends Viognier by Cowhorn Vineyards as well as American dessert wines and aged sherry with coffee notes. The cheese also goes well with beer, such as an Imperial Chocolate Stout by Rogue Ales.

Source: Cowgirl Creamery, Murray’s Cheese, Cheese Connoisseur, Rogue Creamery.

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