The Review fromwww.artisanalcheese.com:

Tomme de Savoie is a semi-hard cow’s milk cheese made in the valley of the Savoie in the French Alps. It has a delightful nutty flavor and smooth paste that melts in your mouth. The hard, powdery rind has an earthy aroma and is usually speckled with many types of indigenous and harmless molds.

For the casual cheese eater, this cheese was voted an A+. For the lover of complex cheeses this is somewhat less deserving of that grade, but a wonderful cheese nonetheless.

From www.artisanalcheese.com:

Double Gloucester is a traditional English cheddar-style cheese from Gloucestershire with a bold orange (I mean really orange) color and bright eggy, and somewhat sharp flavor.

The casual cheese fan’s had to be told not to eat all of the cheese in one sitting. So they give the cheese a grade of A+. The sophisticated cheese eater, however, found the cheese visually interesting but tasting a little bit like egg bread. So they give the cheese a grade of B.

From www.artisanalcheese.com:

Gorgonzola Piccante, a formidable cow’s milk blue cheese from the region north of Milan, is Italy’s answer to Roquefort. It’s rough reddish rind protects a tender, light yellow, blue-flecked paste that is firm, moist and buttery. The flavor is sharp and sweet.

The casual cheese eater does not like blue cheese in general, and gives this a surprising C-. The sophisticated cheese eater is in love with this cheese. If nothing else it proves that the Italians can do whatever the French do, just better (see world cup). This cheese gets an A++.

Artisanal, a restaurant in New York, runs a fabulous cheese of the month club.

Rather than write reviews about the cheese’s I decided to just write down the names, and a summary of their description from the paperwork that is sent. In future, I hope to include pictures.

Fog Light, goat’s milk, California

Cheesemaker Mary Keehn, made at Cypress Grove in McKinleyville, California. Fog Light is a compact 1/2 lb version of the Humboldt Fog tomme. A layer of carbonized vegetable ash covers each tiny wheel, on top of which sits a fluffy white bloom. Cypress Grove Fog Light possesses, a moist but tight texture and that clean, lemony taste so characteristic of fresh goat cheese.

And yes it does taste lemony.

Brie Paturages Comtois, cow’s milk, France

The Brie Paturages Comtois is produced by a cooperative of approximately 40 dairies in the Val de Saone, between Vosges and Bourgogne. Brie Paturages Comtois leaves a milky, clean aftertaste that entices you to eat more.

Affidelice, cow’s milk, France

This washed-rind cow’s milk cheese from the Chablis region in France is very similar to the classic Epoisses made in the same region. The name, Affidelice, comes from two words: affine (ripe) and delice(delight). Affidelice is soft, with a moist, terracotta-colored rind. Artisanal ages it further by washing it daily with Chablis. The resulting cheese has a soft, pungent, spoonable paste and satin texture.