Point Reyes Cheese Review

This evening our good friends Phil and Jenn joined us for our (usually) weekly game night.  We usually have dinner and then play either Dungeons & Dragons or a board game.  Tonite we played a few hours of Runebound, after a (if I say so myself) delicious dinner of veggie reubens and apple-carrot salad, and then later a (if I say so myself) extra-tasty tray of cheeses, breads, and nuts.

Our cheese tray consisted of Saganaki, a flambeed cheese made from a greek sheep's milk cheese named Kasseri; Mimolette, a buttery, aged cow's milk cheese somewhat similar to cheddar; and Cabrales, which is perhaps the strongest blue cheese in the world.  Cabrales is Dan's favorite blue.  It is delicious with a little honey and some toasted almonds.

We also bought a creamy blue cheese named Point Reyes which neither Dan nor I had ever had before.  The woman at the cheese counter in Whole Foods, after seeing us drooling over the Cabrales (and telling us how excited she was that somebody actually knew about and enjoyed Cabrales, and then correctly assuming we were "cheese people"), suggested the Point Reyes after I said I thought a second blue, but sweeter and creamier, would round out our cheese tray. 

Point Reyes Original Blue is a farmstead cheese (meaning it is made at the farm that the milk comes from) named for the area in California, where the dairy is located.  It is a cow's milk blue which is aged about 6 months, very creamy, and though it is sweet (especially compared to the Cabrales), it is also quite pungent, more so than, for instance, Cambozola.  We had it at room temperature and it was quite soft, creamy and spreadable.  I thought it was delicious on the crusty sourdough bread we had. I also thought it was very pretty.  It is a nice bright white color with bright cobalt blue mold (they use penicillium roquefort) running in lines through the middle of the wheel. 

This is definitely a cheese I would recommend for those blue cheese lovers out there who want a creamy, spreadable blue for a cheese tray.  I will certainly have Point Reyes again sometime.