Specialty cheese brands
23 cheese mongers, artisan dairies, affineurs, and producers worth knowing. The places that have direct relationships with cheesemakers, age their own wheels where applicable, and stake editorial positions worth staking.
US specialty mongers
7 brandsSpecialty cheese counters across the US. Where the editorial selection happens and where you actually buy. Includes operations that both make and sell.
US artisan dairies
6 brandsAmerican artisan dairies that make the cheese the mongers stock. The 1990s-2000s American specialty cheese awakening lives here.
UK specialty mongers
3 brandsBritish specialty cheese counters. Neal's Yard Dairy revived farmhouse cheese; Paxton & Whitfield is the institutional anchor; La Fromagerie is the accessible-but-serious middle.
French specialty — mongers & affineurs
4 brandsFrench specialty mongers and the affineurs who age cheese for top retailers worldwide. Three MOF (Meilleur Ouvrier de France) holders included — the highest French craft distinction.
Italian specialty producers
2 brandsItalian specialty producers and producer-affineurs. The Piedmontese and Lombardy traditions, plus the most editorially significant water-buffalo dairy.
Online specialty retailers
1 brandOnline-first specialty cheese retailers. Broader aggregation, less curation than rigorous mongers.