A Plea for Winnimere Parties

Jasper Hill's Winnimere

As surely as I can smell the turkey in the oven on Thanksgiving or the half-pound of melted butter in the pile of mashed potatoes, I can smell the onset of Winnimere season. It smells like falling leaves, flames crackling to roast chestnuts, and yes, like pine.

A seasonal cheese that often makes more appearances on people’s blogs than in shops, Winnimere sells out more quickly than Alaskan wild-caught salmon at a substaniable seafood shop, and just happens to making its way to cheese counters soon.

Winnimere is one of my favorite soft and gooey cheeses in the world. Wrapped with pine bark from the Jasper Hill Farm and washed with lambic beer from a nearby brewery, Winni is only made with raw winter cow’s milk and tastes faintly of the woods, fresh butter, and bacon.

Managing to be simultaneously rich and fresh and lively at the same time, this cheese has the power to please numerous palates. And if your friends don’t like it, well, I’m not saying that it’s okay to judge people, but at least give them one really insulting look while shaking your head back and forth. Then apologize, smile, and eat their portion.

This blog post is a complimentary heads-up and plea. If you see it within the next couple of months, get it.

But for the love of all things all things right and cheesy, bring your Winnimere to a party. If you don’t have a party to go to, throw one for Winnimere. This wheel needs to be shared.