The Best Cheese in the World at Rogue Creamery, Central Point (Medford area), Oregon

At the close of our stay in Ashland we rose early and I finally tried Noble Coffee — an Americano and a Croissant, both of which were good, both way above Starbucks and up there with The Italian Bar. Then we hopped in our rental and headed south to Crescent City, California, our base to explore the redwoods. Actually, at the suggestion of our GPS, we headed north toward Medford and Grants Pass before heading back southwest.

Ah, Medford! Home to the Best Cheese in The World Yep, the best, at least in 2019 World Cheese Competition. It’s made at Rogue Creamery at 311 North Front Street in Central Point, which is adjacent to Medford, and they’ve been making cheese since 1933. The Best Cheese in the World was Rogue River Blue and, as a fan of blue cheese, I couldn’t pass up the place, so Nancy and I detoured into Medford and Rogue Creamery.

Rogue is a creamery first and last. You can observe the working operation (through glass) and lots of counters of cheese,

with more around the corner…

and various other corners. I got a small triangle of Rogue River Blue, aka The Best Cheese in the World, and some small wrapped odd ends of Etorki, Garrotxa, and Tallegio Dop from a basket atop the counter. I had no clue what the first two were, and I knew Tallegio only as an area of Italy. And I added small tub of spicy pimiento cheese.

We hopped back in our car, and headed on to Crescent City.

I’ll state right up from that I was in over my cheese head. The Rogue Creamery website, which I looked at later, lists their blue cheese by vintage year. “Each vintage release also showcases its own distinct characteristics due to unique grazing conditions each year. This tasting set is the perfect gift for the blue cheese connoisseur.” For example, you can order “Rogue River Blue 2024 Vintage (9.5 oz)” and “Rogue River Blue 2023 Vintage (9.5 oz)” over the through their website. Cheeses have vintages?

Such subtleties went way beyond me, and to complicate I ended up eating the cheeses in atypical conditions — all except the pimiento cheese, as to which I have considerable expertise — as lunch from a backpack among the redwoods, perhaps at a picnic table with local fauna. On the plus side I suppose the warmth brought out the full flavor. Here are my notes.

I ate the pimiento cheese our first night in Crescent City in our VRBO overlooking the Pacific after a formidable lunch reduced dinner to a snack. It was delicious. I don’t get the full effect of the mix of cheeses selected, but it was a fine pimiento cheese, very flavorful and no wretched excess of mayonnaise. I have no idea which or how many cheeses went into it but I can confidently report that it was indeed spicy.

The Rogue River Blue surprised me. It didn’t have a lot of the big tang and spiciness of roquefort, which is my favorite blue. It was much more subtle and very creamy, and relatively light on the tang. The flavor was subtle, and it included a nutty flavor and a touch of sweetness along with the modulated tang. It was very, very rich and had an almost fudge texture, at least after a morning in the backpack. I told Nancy, who doesn’t like blue cheeses, that she might like this one. Unlike Nancy, I’m a fan of strong cheeses — “stinky” cheeses like blue and camembert, but I have to hand it to Rogue River Blue. The richness and texture make an impact. It hits above its weight.

As it happens, Rogue Creamery offers a host of different blue cheeses, including these and others.

Had I studied the website rather than suddenly remembering their championship and barging ahead, I probably would have purchased a bit of their Brutal Blue, which they describe as “not for the faint of heart,” in addition to the Rogue River Blue, and perhaps others…

Let’s turn to the other cheeses. Etorki (left center in the photo) is a French Basque sheep milk cheese. It reminded me of Muenster texture with more aroma and a bit more flavor.

Garrotxa (lower right) is a Catalan goat cheese (the letter x is a dead giveaway). It’s smooth, a tiny bit chalky, and mild with a curious understated mix of chèvre and brie, if that makes any sense. It pairs well with Triscuits.

Taleggio DOP (lower left) is from the Val Taleggio region of Lombardy. The texture reminded me of a mature brie while the flavor and aroma were both nice and pungent, like a brie edging toward blue. This was a big hit with me.

What a great stop! You can order the Rogue Creamery cheeses, or you can hustle out to the Rogue Valley and eat all manner of good food. You can use it as a base to Crater Lake, the fantastic Oregon Coast, the Shakespeare Festival, and much more. Definitely get an assortment of cheeses from Rogue Creamery. I’m sure a search will tell you where to get a good baguette, but Triscuits from Safeway will do in a pinch. Do it! The cheese is that good.

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