By Gordon Edgar—
This is a February column, so you’d think I would be recommending fancy heart-shaped cheese for your little trysts. Every December I get preorder sheets offering “Valentine’s Day Specials.” Often, they are the same cheeses we can buy every day of the year, contorted into shapes that are supposed to look like hearts, but don’t really. And, even if they did, one cut from a knife means that, for the rest of your nibbles, you are eating a broken heart. That is tempting fate, my friends.
Instead, I have three cheeses to recommend, two great deals, and one super-amazing cheese we only get once a year.
First, we finally got our wheels of Gruyere Alpage. As you are probably tired of reading about, we haven’t carried most cheeses from Switzerland since the 40% tariffs kicked in, making them unaffordable. We made an exception for the Gruyere Alpage because, even though it is super expensive, it is such an amazing cheese. Unfortunately, it missed the shipping window in mid-November, so we had to wait until now to get it. It’s worth the wait.
“Alpage” means that an Alpine cheese is made with summer milk at the highest possible elevations. Traditionally, Alpine cows move up and down the mountain over the course of the year and cheesemakers live and make cheese in small shacks and domiciles that they can only access for a couple months all year.
This elevation gives the best milk because, when the thaw comes to the mountains, the variety of flowers and grasses are the most numerous and interesting. Since milk is basically flowers and grass mediated through the medium of mammal, milk just doesn’t taste like this any other time of year. Our Gruyere Alpage is nutty, oniony, floral, and grassy, and you should treat yourself to at least one piece if you love cheese.
Next up is the Navarro Mexican Manchego. For years, retailers have sold Mexican-style cheeses, but rarely were they made in Mexico. Personally, I haven’t seen actual Mexican cheese in the Bay Area for at least twenty years. However, all that changed last year when Quesos Navarro in Jalisco started exporting to the U.S. All their cheeses are great and—while we love our local producers—their product line is unlike what we can get here.
Probably the star (so far; a cotija is coming soon) of their aged cheese selection is their Mexican Manchego. Traditional Spanish manchego is made only in wheels from sheep cheese in part of La Mancha. Mexican manchego has been made since the 1500s and is usually made in blocks from cow milk. It’s not as complex a cheese as the Spanish counterpart, but it is melty, rich, and super easy to eat.
And, right now it’s on sale for $4.49/14 oz while supplies last, so it’s a great time to check it out.
Sadly, the last cheese is here because Central Coast Creamery is calling it quits. Reggie Jones and his daughters have been making great cheese in San Luis Obispo for years, have won numerous awards, and developed a great reputation for dependably awesome cheeses.
Years ago, I brought a wheel of his goat cheddar to a meeting of Wisconsin cheddar makers, many of whom had never tried a goat cheddar. Coming from California, I was proud to represent the goats, and even the crustiest cow-supremacist, goat-hater had to admit it was good. We have proudly carried it since the first batch and are sad to see it go.
We just bought the last 11 wheels, so come down and get some Central Coast Creamery Goat Cheddar at $19.99/lb. until it runs out.
All of these selections for this month are high-quality and interesting, which is what you should be looking for on Valentine’s Day and during February—not just fancy looks.
Gordon Edgar loves cheese and worker co-ops and has been combining these infatuations as the cheese buyer for Rainbow Grocery Cooperative since 1994. He serves on the American Cheese Society Judging and Competition Committee and is a member of the Guilde Internationale des Fromagers. Edgar has written two books on cheese—”Cheesemonger” (2010) and “Cheddar” (2015)—and lives in San Francisco with his adorable white mini schnauzer named Fillmore Grumble. He writes about grief, and sometimes cheese, at https://bit.ly/42IwYf0
Over the Rainbow Cheese Counter
Published on February 12, 2026
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