Cheese & Dairy

About the Cheese

Sbrinz Alpage AOP is one of Switzerland's oldest and most revered cheeses, produced exclusively from the raw milk of Alpine cows grazing on high-altitude summer pastures. Rolf Beeler — Switzerland's most celebrated affineur — selects only the finest wheels and matures them for a minimum of 36 months, developing a deeply complex, full-bodied character unlike any other hard cheese.

Price is per ounce. Please specify your desired quantity at checkout.

Tasting Notes

• Texture: Brittle, crystalline, and dense — breaks into shards rather than slices
• Aroma: Rich alpine meadow, wild herbs, toasted nuts, and aged butter
• Flavor: Intensely savory, long-aged complexity with caramel sweetness and a clean, lingering finish

Serving Suggestions

• Grate over pasta, risotto, or soups as a Parmesan alternative
• Serve in shards alongside cured meats and honey
• Pair with aged Barolo, Amarone, or a rich Chardonnay
• Excellent with walnuts, dried figs, or dark chocolate

Product Details

• Affineur: Rolf Beeler
• Cheese Type: Hard, Raw Milk
• Milk: Raw Cow's Milk
• Aging: 3–4 Years
• Certification: AOP (Appellation d'Origine Protégée)
• Origin: Central Switzerland
• Pricing: Per ounce

About This Cheese

Shelburne Farms Extra Sharp Cheddar is their best-known cheese — aged for a minimum of two years to develop the classic Vermont cheddar profile: acid-forward sharpness, some minerality, and a touch of sweetness on the back end. Great to snack on any time of year, but especially during apple picking season and deep winter days.

About Shelburne Farms

Shelburne Farms is a nonprofit working farm, education center, and National Historic Landmark situated on 1,400 acres along the shores of Lake Champlain in Shelburne, Vermont. The farm has been producing award-winning farmstead cheddar from its own herd of Brown Swiss cows since 1980, using traditional methods and a deep commitment to sustainable agriculture and land stewardship. Shelburne Farms cheddar is widely regarded as one of the finest American farmstead cheddars — a benchmark of Vermont cheesemaking craftsmanship.

Pairing Suggestions

Apple slices, honey, charcuterie, crackers, crusty bread, walnuts, and dried fruit. Pairs beautifully with Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, hard cider, and craft ales. An essential addition to any cheese board.

Product Details

• Producer: Shelburne Farms
• Origin: Shelburne, Vermont, USA
• Milk: Cow’s milk (Brown Swiss)
• Style: Farmstead extra sharp cheddar
• Aging: Minimum 2 years
• Packaging: Vacuum sealed
• Weight: 4 lbs

About the Cheese

Hornbacher is a raw milk washed-rind cheese handcrafted at Käserei Fritzenhaus in the Emmental region of Switzerland. Aged and selected by Gourmino — one of Switzerland's premier affineurs — this is a cheese of remarkable depth and character, made from the rich fresh milk of local cows and brought to peak maturity by 4-time World Cheese Champion Michael Spycher.

Price is per ounce. Please specify your desired quantity at checkout.

Tasting Notes

• Rind: Washed, rustic — aromas of baked potato and earthy cellar
• Paste: Supple, semi-firm, ivory to golden
• Flavor: Roasted nuts, umami, caramel, and sweet onion — complex and deeply satisfying
• Finish: Long, savory, and warming

The Cheesemaker

“I learned the art of cheesemaking as a very young man. Through further training I became a master cheesemaker. However, I am convinced that there are many things that cannot be learned to become a world champion. Personally, I often rely on my gut feeling and experience.”

— Michael Spycher, 4-time World Cheese Champion, Käserei Fritzenhaus

Serving Suggestions

• Serve at room temperature on a cheese board with crusty bread and cornichons
• Pair with Alsatian Pinot Gris, Gewurztraminer, or a malty amber ale
• Melt over roasted vegetables, potatoes, or a croque monsieur
• Excellent alongside cured meats, walnuts, and quince paste

Product Details

• Producer: Käserei Fritzenhaus / Gourmino
• Affineur: Michael Spycher
• Cheese Type: Washed-Rind, Raw Cow’s Milk
• Origin: Emmental, Switzerland
• Pricing: Per ounce

Rodolphe le Meunier Beurre de Baratte aux Algues — Tours, France

Rodolphe le Meunier is one of France's most celebrated affineurs and artisan producers, based in Tours in the Loire Valley. Trained under the legendary Marie-Anne Cantin and named Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best Craftsman of France) in 2000, le Meunier brings the same obsessive attention to quality to his butters as he does to his world-renowned cheeses. His Beurre de Baratte — churned butter in the traditional French style — is made from the finest cream and finished with hand-harvested Atlantic seaweed, creating a compound butter of extraordinary depth and character.

The butter is rich, golden, and deeply flavorful — the clean, cultured tang of high-quality French cream balanced by the briny, mineral complexity of the algues. It's simultaneously oceanic and luxurious: a finishing butter that transforms everything it touches. Spread on warm sourdough, melted over grilled fish or shellfish, or used to finish a risotto or pasta, this is a butter that earns its place at the table.

"Beurre de Baratte — churned in the traditional style, finished with hand-harvested Atlantic seaweed." — Rodolphe le Meunier, Meilleur Ouvrier de France

• Producer: Rodolphe le Meunier, Tours, Loire Valley, France
• Type: Compound Butter (Beurre de Baratte)
• Flavoring: Hand-harvested Atlantic seaweed (algues)
• Origin: France
• Sold: Per ounce
• Best Used: Spread on bread, melted over grilled fish, shellfish, or steak, finishing sauce for pasta or risotto
• Pairs With: Oysters, grilled sole, lobster, sourdough, steamed vegetables

A compound butter from one of France's greatest artisan producers — oceanic, mineral, and utterly transformative at the table.

Casa Madaio · 'Cinerino' · Sheep's Milk · Campania, Italy

In the rugged hills of Cilento — a UNESCO World Heritage landscape in southern Campania — the Madaio family has been crafting cheese by hand for generations. Their 'Cinerino' ("the ashen one") is among their most distinctive creations: a raw sheep's milk cheese aged beneath a blanket of myrtle wood ashes, a preservation technique rooted in the pastoral traditions of southern Italy. The ash does more than protect the rind — it perfumes it, drawing in the wild, resinous aromatics of Mediterranean scrubland and imparting a mineral complexity that no industrial process can replicate.

Beneath that striking grey exterior lies a paste that is supple and yielding when young, firming into something more concentrated and expressive with age. On the nose: warm lanolin, dried herbs, and a whisper of wood smoke. On the palate: rich, tangy sheep's milk with a long finish of toasted nuts and wild myrtle. The ash rind adds a mineral edge that keeps every bite lively and intriguing. Serve at room temperature with chestnut honey, pair with a glass of Fiano di Avellino, or crumble over roasted vegetables for a taste of Campania at its most elemental.

• Producer: Casa Madaio
• Origin: Cilento, Campania, Italy
• Milk: Raw sheep's milk
• Style: Ash-aged semi-firm
• Aging: Rind aged in myrtle wood ashes
• Tasting Notes: Lanolin, dried herbs, wood smoke, toasted nuts, wild myrtle, mineral finish
• Pairings: Chestnut honey, Fiano di Avellino, Aglianico, roasted vegetables, arugula salad
• Pricing: Per ounce — order exactly what you need

One of southern Italy's most singular cheeses — ancient technique, wild terroir, and the unmistakable character of Campanian sheep's milk.