Durrus

Durrus is made by Jeffa Gill at her dairy in Coomkeen, in the far southwest corner of Ireland, from the raw milk of two local GMO-free herds of cattle. Mild and creamy with strong notes of butter, this semi-soft, washed-rind Saint-Nectaire-style cheese develops stronger, headier, fruitier flavors as it matures. Durrus' rind is coral-colored, developing gray, yellow, and pink molds with age; and its creamy paste contains over 55% butterfat! This cheese is perfect for Riesling and delicious with a white sparkler.

Gubeen

Tom and Giana Ferguson are the fifth-generation producers of Gubbeen, a rosy washed-rind cheese from West Cork, Ireland. The name of the cheese is Gaelic for "gobin", meaning small mouthful. Made from morning milk, the cheese is curdled, cut, and molded into forms about the size of a dinner plate. Each cheese is washed delicately with a culture-infused brine. Every wheel develops differently, with some gaining an orange sheen and others exhibiting a light, fluffy bloom. Gubbeen pairs well with a semi-dry Riesling or English porter beer.

Adrahan

Mary Burns of County Cork is one of three remarkable women responsible for the resurrection of artisan cheesemaking in Ireland. Her version of a washed rind is brushing a straight-forward brine on a one kilo wheel. Although the interior becomes runny after several months, we like this cheese young, when the core retains some chalkiness. The resulting textures are stiff cream and toothsome curd, the flavors rustic but balanced: saline, nearly smoky, with a pleasant whiff of wet earth. Too old and that runny center becomes ammoniated, acrid and bitter. An ideal picnic cheese, with a hunk of fatty, cured meat. A thick, chocolately stout tempers Ardrahan's masculinity. Guinness is our go-to choice.

Cashel Blue

Some events are a blessing in disguise. Consider the Grubb family, kicked out of England three hundred years ago for Anabaptist tendencies. They relocated to Fethard, in County Tipperary, Ireland, and took up buttermaking, a dairy heritage continued by Louis and Jane today. Luckily for us, in addition to butter, they are also making this sumptuous, mellow, creamy blue. At its prime, we've found Cashel to be as hearty as smoked meat, but always milky, without the intense, metallic punch that turns so many off blue cheese. If that's not enough reason for Cashel to end up on your cheeseboard, consider this: it's the first farmstead blue made in Ireland. So get yourself a tiny glass of Oloroso Sherry or a tawny Port and eat a bit of history.

Crozier Blue

Crozier Blue is a recent development by Jane & Louis Grubb of Cashel Blue fame. The responsibility of maintaining the flock of East Friesian sheep rests with their nephews on a nearby farm. Jane and Louis continue their concentrations on raising their herd of cows and making both types of award-winning blues. Each wheel of Crozier is formed by hand and made seasonally from pasteurized milk when the lassies are grazing on the lush grass of County Tipperary. Its blue veining packs a punch comparable to Roquefort and balanced by the lush creaminess of the milk. While Cashel is less intense and likes a sweet wine with a bit of toasty oxidation, Crozier does better with a sweet, floral number to placate its power. We like late-harvest Riesling.