Editor’s note: We love hearing from cheese professionals and learning about their favorite cheeses. This week author and contributor Hannah Howard shares her winning picks.
A few years ago, I made the mistake of hosting a small holiday celebration without cheese. “No cheese?” my guests asked, their faces falling in disappointment. I immediately regretted my omission. I won’t repeat that gaffe.
How is it already the holiday season? Time is playing weird tricks on me. As I get ready to celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, and the new year with friends and family, my mind is on gifts, travel, and…cheese.
There are so many cheeses to get excited about this time of year – I could have made this list a whole lot longer. Some are only available seasonally (hi there, Vacherin Mont D’Or), while others just remind me of Champagne toasts and pretty dresses (La Tur just screams party!). Here are five cheeses I can’t wait to dig into this festive season.
La Tur
La Tur photo courtesy Caseficio Della Alta Langa
If you love cheese that has the texture and decadence of ice cream that’s just starting to melt, you’ll fall for La Tur. It’s made in Italy’s Piedmont region, which borders France and Switzerland at the foot of the Alps. It’s a dense, creamy little wheel made with a blend of cow, goat and sheep’s milk. Ta Tur is soft-ripened, with enough complexity for a cheese snob – the goat’s milk lends tang; the sheep’s milk adds richness – and enough approachability for a newbie. Toast to a sweet new year with a bottle of sweet bubbly Alta Langa DOCG from the same region. The effervescence makes a refreshing match for the rich cheese.
Sandeman Port Washed Harbison Mini
Special Wash Mini Harbison photo credit Jasper Hills
Harbison is my desert island cheese. The folks at Jasper Hill in Vermont wrap the baby wheels in strips of spruce cambium, the tree’s inner bark layer, harvested from their own woodlands. As Harbison ripens, it develops a pudding-like gooeyness, perfect for dipping right into with a piece of crusty baguette (or a spoon), and a subtle mushroomy funk. For the holidays, Jasper Hill is launching mini Harbison wheels washed in Founder’s Reserve Ruby Port from Sandeman. The port brings aromas of rich red fruit and campfire. Close your eyes and you’ll taste vanilla and oak trees in wintertime. Curl up by the fire and savor a few spoonfuls with Raincoast Crisps and your favorite juicy red or port.
Vacherin Mont D’Or
When I worked at Murray’s Cheese, the annual appearance of Vacherin Mont D’Or was its own holiday. The sprue-wrapped cheese hails from the Swiss-French border, near the mountain d’Or. It’s made with winter milk that comes from the same cows that produce Gruyère in the summer. The cows produce less milk in the winter, but that which they do give is richer in fat, which is preferable for small, soft wheels like Vacherin. Carefully slice off the top and you’ll be rewarded with the oozing, funky, woodsy center. Eating it is the transcendent experience that cheese nerds wait for all year.
Beemster XO
Beemster XO photo credit © Beemster Cheese
When I worked behind the cheese counter at Fairway, Beemster XO was an easy win. I’d sliver off a piece of this crumbly amber-hued beauty and people’s eyes would light up. The Gouda is aged for more than two years in the countryside of North Holland, where it develops rich flavors of butterscotch, whiskey, and pecan. It’s studded with an abundance of crunchy, mouthwatering crystals that lend a joyful crunch. It’s both savory and sweet – the candy of cheese.
Stichelton
Stichelton photo courtesy of Stichelton Dairy 
My British husband and I started chatting on Christmas day, eight Christmases ago (thanks, Hinge!). I was just home from my NYC family tradition of movies and Chinese food, and he was across the pond about to partake in his own family tradition of Stilton and port after dinner. If you’re a Stilton fan – and you should be – there’s no better time than the holidays to bring out Stichelton, a small production version made with raw milk on Nottinghamshire’s Welbeck Estate. The creamy, fudgy blue has notes of caramel and a bright piquancy that’s welcome after a rich holiday dinner, with or without a drizzle of wildflower honey.