Ones I like

• Wensleydale with cranberries
• Manchego (ESP), a hard sheep’s milk, and aim for an older cheese. You’ve got a rich nuttiness, burnt sweetness, and salt in the finish.
• Valdeon (ESP)
• Feta (GR), of course, but it’s tough to find a traditional one made from unpasteurized cow’s, goat’s, and sheep’s milk. Crappy versions taste too salty.

Other cheeses

• Palhais, Queijo de Cabra Curado Gourmet (goat cheese)
• Istara Chistou (goat-sheep cheese)
• Cypress Grove Chevre (US) – goat’s milk from California in a traditional French farmhouse style. Light and creamy mousse-like with nice acidity. Nice on crackers, or even better, warmed on a toasted baguette slice with a real balsamic vinegar (Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena) drizzled on top.
• Grafton Village Cheddar (US) – small-batch, traditional farmhouse style made from raw cow milk and aged well.
• Maytag Blue (US)- traditional blue from Iowa, made by hand in small batches, dense and crumbly similar to Roquefort.
• Bleu D’Auvergne (F) – moist and creamy, cow’s milk, piquant, sharp, and clean, with herb and butter notes. My personal favorite blue.
• Boursin (F) – moist, creamy, buttery, and light, cow’s milk, with hints of acid, melts in your mouth. Excellent on water crackers.
• [Brie] (F) – soft cow’s milk with a delicious rind. There are many varieties so try to find one you like.
• Fleur du Maquis (F) – ewe’s milk covered with herbs, peppers, and juniper, from Corsica. No two are the same, can range from mild (young) to rich and nutty (older). Melts in your mouth. Also known as Brin d’Amour (Wisp of Love), which is exactly what it tastes like.
• Morbier (F) – cow’s milk, with a distinct wood ash and salt line through the middle. Kinda elastic, assertively pungent but fruity sweet. Try it grilled, or melted, and pick it up with bread or potatoes.
• Raclette (F) – the beauty of this cow’s milk cheese comes out when it is grilled, releasing a nutty sweetness, with a fruity aroma.
• Roquefort (F) – traditional farmhouse sheep’s milk blue cheese, made by molding rye bread and sprinkling crumbs into curds. Words cannot do this cheese justice.
• Bel Paese (I) – a modern cow’s milk, delicate and sweet, young, and semi-soft. Also produced in the United States.
• Fontina (I) – cow’s milk, dense and smooth, kinda elastic, with nutty earthiness and honey notes. It’s meant primarily for melting. Try it melted on a sandwich – with ham, or roasted peppers and basil, or grilled chicken.
• Gorgonzola (I) – cow’s milk blue, with a lot of variability in production. I like the mountain style, which is denser and has more ‘bite’. If you like blues, just try a couple and see what you prefer.
• Grana Padano and Parmigiano-Reggiano (I) – the real “Parmesan”, cow’s milk, hard, can be oily, meant to be grated. They’re different from each other so try both. Once you try them you’ll never go back, and you’ll find excuses to put it into every dish. Risotto, broccoli rabe, salads, you name it. These will keep in the fridge for months, but consider freezing it if it’s gonna be a while. You can grate it right out of the freezer.
• Taleggio (I) – cow’s milk with an interesting aroma and flavor due to the moulding and fermenting process in caves. Fantastic melted over polenta.
• Double Gloucesters (UK)
• Stilton (UK)
• Cashel Blue (IRL) — a really unique blue cheese.
• Appenzeller (CH) – Cow’s milk washed in white wine and spices. Firm and dense, yet supple.
• Emmental (CH) – What American “Swiss” wishes it could be. Cow’s milk, sweet and smooth, fruity with nice acid.
• Gruyere (CH) – Similar to Emmental but denser and grainier, fruit and flower, complex and earthy. Guaranteed to be in your top ten. You must make a croque-monsieur with it!
• Polder Goat Gouda 1 Year (NL) — I think it is the best aged goat in the world.
• Limberger (D) – robust cow’s milk, with a distinctly powerful aroma, but spicy.
• Danablu (DK) is a modern cow’s milk blue, sharp, salt, and creamy. Havarti is a semi-soft cow’s milk which is very creamy.
• Halloumi (GR) – goat’s and sheep’s, best grilled. Actually from Cyprus.
• Oaxaca/Asadero (MEX) – cow’s milk stretched curd (like mozzarella), melts perfectly. Can be bland to sweet, depending on producer.