1924 Blue Mixed Milk Cheese

Inspired by early, pre-AOC-protected versions of Roquefort – which was made with a mix of cow and sheep’s milk before it was mandated to only include sheep’s milk in 1925 – Herve Mons’ 1924 Bleu is a mixed-milk cheese that’s an absolute treat for blue cheese lovers. The milk is sourced from cows that graze on the lush pastures and volcanic soil of France’s Auvergne region, and the cheese is produced locally as well, inoculated with a custom blend of cultures and carefully hand-turned many times during the maturation process.

1924 is dense, lush, and creamy, but still somehow light with a texture that melts in your mouth and spreads like butter. The cheese certainly has that blue cheese funk but isn’t overwhelmingly strong, with notes of sweet milk, butterscotch, bacon, black pepper, and a little minerality. Eating this cheese is a unique pleasure, a taste of what Roquefort would have tasted like more than 200 years ago. Serve it with a drizzle of honey for dessert, crumble it on a baked potato or in a salad, or enjoy it on a turkey sandwich.

• Pairings: Sauternes, Port, Viognier, Zinfandel, Amarone