The Rare Cheese Club

The Rare Cheese Club

Each month, members of The Rare Cheese Club will have the opportunity to taste hand-crafted, artisanal cheeses from among the best cheeses in the world. We work with our partners at Zingerman's to curate three extremely limited-production cheeses made by some of the world’s most interesting and celebrated cheesemakers using only the best and freshest milk. Award-winning cheeses produced in France, Italy, Switzerland, the UK, Holland, Germany, Austria, Portugal, Spain, the U.S. and even some countries you might not expect like Croatia. If you fancy cheese made from age-old traditional recipes, some centuries old, you’re going to love The Rare Cheese Club!

You’ll savor the floral and fruity alpine flavors in Switzerland's traditionally made L’Etivaz AOP, which is made as Gruyere cheese once was made a century or more ago, in open copper pots over a wood fire and with milk from cows that are only milked in the summer months when they are out to pasture in the meadows grazing only on fragrant Alpine herbs, flowers and grasses. You will taste the difference.

Indulge in the dense creaminess and savory flavors of Spanish cheesemaker Ana Isabel Rosado’s Andazul Blue, the first blue cheese made only from the milk of endangered local Payoyo goats. Its rind is rubbed with extra virgin olive oil, adding buttery, savory flavor notes.

Discover the flavor crystals, creamy texture and big, rich fruity flavors in Uplands Farms’ Pleasant Ridge Reserve, arguably one of the best cheeses being made in the United States at this time and also the most awarded U.S. produced cheese to date. Our longstanding relationship with cheesemaker Andy Hatch allows us to select the batch dates for Rare Cheese Club members.

Our monthly In Pursuit of Cheese newsletter, included in each shipment, offers detailed tasting notes, cheese profiles, cheesemaker histories, and serving suggestions.

Our Cheesemongers are Among the Best in the Country

Our buyers have traveled internationally to work directly with farmhouse cheesemakers to refine specific batches, have been recognized by and judged at national and international competitions, and are widely respected among their peers. They’ve tended cheese caves, washing rinds, rotating wheels, and recording daily tasting notes to ensure that our cheeses are served at their peak flavor profiles.

Perfect Maturation and Professional Shipping

Our strictly controlled cheese “cave” optimizes temperature, light and humidity to ensure featured selections are properly stored, tended and matured. With over 20 years experience packing and shipping cheese, we’ll be sure to get your cheeses to you as each cheesemaker intended you to enjoy them.

Our 5-Point, Quality-Driven Cheese Selection Process Sets Us Apart

Our product selection process is the cornerstone of our success and is what sets us apart from other artisanal cheese clubs. You will taste the difference. Here’s how we do it:

1. We’ve Partnered with Zingermans®, a Top-Rated Deli by Zagat’s Gourmet

We work closely with Zingermans® to select our featured cheeses, which has been selling artisanal cheese since 1982 and was rated as one of 25 of the World’s Best Food Markets by Food & Wine magazine.

2. Great Ingredients Make Great Cheese

At the heart of all great food are great ingredients, and no one knows that better than Zingermans®. Together, we look for traditionally made, farmhouse and artisanal cheeses made from the best natural ingredients. Cheeses that you wouldn't easily find on your own.

3. We Look For Cheeses Made in Their Place of Origin

To find the best, most traditional interpretations of a specific cheese, you have to buy each from its place of origin. We look for Manchego in the Dehesa plains in Spain’s central La Mancha region and Comté in the Franche-Comté region of France.

4. We Work Closely With Artisanal Cheesemakers & Build Strong Relationships

Many of our farmhouse producers not only have their own cows, they’ve named each of them. Their primary focus is to make the best product possible and often with the input of our tasting panel, they’ll experiment with slight changes to their process and raw ingredients to perfect their cheeses.

5. Our Buyers Travel Internationally to Work with Our Cheesemakers

It’s not always as glamorous as it sounds. Often, they’ll spend four or more hours in a 45° aging room, tasting dozens of samples from literally hundreds of batches of the same cheese to find just the right one.

As a Christmas gift last year, my husband and I received a membership to the Cheese of the Month Club… To our delight, all of your cheeses have been utterly delectable… Thank you for such a high-quality product.

— Victoria Swider, IN

For over 20 years, we’ve been delivering traditionally-made, artisan cheeses, perfect as memorable gifts for the cheese lovers in your life. With a membership to our Gourmet Cheese of the Month Club, your gift will be appreciated long after the first shipment arrives!

It’s Not Just Cheese – It’s a Cheese Experience!

Our goal is to make each cheese club gift membership a true “experience” gift. Not only will your gift recipients enjoy world-class cheeses, they’ll also receive background histories of each cheese, profiles of the award-winning cheesemakers, detailed tasting notes, serving recommendations, and more. Exploring the huge world of gourmet cheese with our members has been our passion for over 20 years, and we can’t wait to share the fun of experiencing these delicious cheeses with your gift recipients in the months to come!

Need a Last Minute Solution? – Send a Gift Announcement!

During checkout, you’ll have the option to schedule an email gift announcement for any date you choose, or create a PDF that you can print out and give to your gift recipient. It’s the perfect solution for those of you who are in panic mode! Just order your cheese club gift membership to start with the next available shipment, and email or print a gift announcement today!

100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

We take our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee seriously, and take pride offering responsive, care-driven customer service. So, sit back, relax, and let us handle everything. No searching stores, no waiting in lines, no wrapping boxes, no crowds – Let us do the work for you, delivering smiles to your gift recipient month after month!