Brillat-Savarin and St Marcellin don’t fit in the same niche for me. Never considered them to be in competition with each other.
I like B-S but it seems to be harder to get than in the past. I just discovered a wholesale source nearby for Sera Estrela, which some people claim is better, but I have never had it because I can’t find it at retail. Everyone claims to have it on the Internet but no one has it when I try to buy it. I plan to call the wholesale place on Monday to see if they will sell it to me. If so, maybe I can get some B-S as well.
We love their operation. We visit every year for a Sunday farm tour (pro tip: go late winter / early spring to see the lambs & kids). Recently they’ve added more ‘events’ like hikes and dinners, it’s only a matter of time before we sign up for one of those.
Here’s a mini-dose of the information from the AO course:
Such a small world.
Their animals are treated like royalty!
David helped oversee my brother in law’s heart transplant.
The world is a better place for having him in it!
Indeed! Their commitment to sustainability & stewardship is where it really hits home for me. We met him and Tamara only recently, on our last farm tour, but enjoyed connecting the dots with them.
If you find it locally please let me know where. I haven’t seen it around for years as it was always a favorite of ours that I’ve unfortunately kind of given up on.
Murray’s is pretty good, and oh so easy to order!
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Excellent point! I haven’t used them in a couple of years though as somehow I always over ordered and under consumed. I’m game to try again.
It’s a sad market around here, every shop that’s tried to offer world wide selections slowly transforms into a mild cheddar emporium. (I’m exaggerating just a bit)
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I haven’t had a chance to look. Old Brooklyn Cheese at Van Aken has special ordered cheese for me in the past. They are very accomodating. I’m sure that they would order it, it if they don’t currently have it.
Final session of the Atlas Obscura cheese course last night–all about sensory evaluation, with tasting different cheeses (and pairings). Really interesting to be walked through how professionals evaluate cheeses at different stages of development using all their senses (even hearing!).
Relevant to the question of what to pair with a given cheese, there was a book recommended, “Taste Buds and Molecules” (in English translation), which I am going to order.
“Mmmm, this is some fine sounding cheese.”
I do admit, however, to holding the cork up to my ear and listening as I shake it when the sommelier presents a wine.
The auditory part has to do with cheeses that have holes or a more friable structure, which apparently can be evaluated by tapping on the cheese.
This class was being transmitted from the far northern reaches of Vermont, so we did ask how they’d managed with the storms. Their milking herd is safe, as are the two other herds from which they purchase milk, but there is much damage in the region as I expect everyone knows. Friends of mine in NH sent me some video of what is normally a placid stream, now a white-water river. More storms are hitting them tonight. 
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Harbison is a very good cheese that I enjoy from time to time, but something about the precise flavor keeps it off my all time favorites list.
Yes in NH/VT it JUST. KEEPS. RAINING. 
Interesting cheese!
We freeze it, then slice of the top off and eat it ‘dip style.’
It can have a certain something, flavorwise, but I keep going back.
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I would actually go for a fruit forward Champagne. The bubbles in the champagne will lift the cream off the tongue and cleanse the pallet for the next bite
Took a few bottles of wine and a wheel of Harbison over to my neighbours. Harbison can vary some according to where it is in development and I’m sure other factors like what the cows were eating. Cut off the top and let it come to room temperature, at which point it had the most unctuous texture. That particular cheese showed very well and just the empty “shell” remained at the end of the evening.
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Old Brooklyn Cheese at Van Aken has some. They posted a reel on their IG.
Thanks for the heads up!
I had something like this for a nice change of pace