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The holiday season has arrived, and hopefully, everyone gets a few days to relax and enjoy some time with friends and family. I know by the time the big day comes, there will be lots of cheese being consumed all across the country, and all the cheese mongers will be curled up recovering from the marathon called December. It’s a fun time for us, but there is a lot of cheese weightlifting involved, and a lot of early mornings.
The holiday season has arrived, and hopefully, everyone gets a few days to relax and enjoy some time with friends and family. I know by the time the big day comes, there will be lots of cheese being consumed all across the country, and all the cheese mongers will be curled up recovering from the marathon called December. It’s a fun time for us, but there is a lot of cheese weightlifting involved, and a lot of early mornings.
As I’m drinking a boozy coffee on Christmas day, I always think back over the year and marvel at the quantity and variety of cheese that have been popular. Cheeses come and go every year, and sometimes things come back and make a guest appearance just when you thought they were gone for good. We had an interesting year with the cattle virus affecting imports from France and Italy, but perhaps that gave us even more reason to look inward to Canadian cheese makers to see what was new and interesting.
Here is a look at some of our favourite new discoveries from Canada this year:
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Houde le Patriarche is one of my new faves. It is a style of cheese I really love with a washed rind and a great, earthy, and slightly nutty taste. The texture is absolutely gorgeous, especially if you remember to take it out of the fridge for a few hours before serving. This tasty cheese is made by Fromagerie Nouvelle France in Quebec. They are best known for their sheep-milk cheeses, but now we know they are equally adept at bringing cow's milk to life.
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St Brigid’s Six-Year-Old Cheddar was another win this year. So full of tyrosine crystals and so rich with excellent milk and with just a hint of a barnyardy finish, this is really a cheddar to be savoured. Made in Ontario with organic Jersey milk, St Brigid’s are also well known for their amazingly beautiful butter.
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Zurigo and L'Empereur Légère from Fritz Kaiser in Quebec were timely discoveries in the lower-fat category. We lost a very popular Dutch cheese this year that was on the low side, so people were happy to discover tasty alternatives.
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Although we’ve carried them for a couple of years now, we were very happy to see people really embracing the raclette from Creekside Creamery in the Fraser Valley. They have a great assortment of flavours and styles of raclette, and they are all made with milk from their organic herd. We found they really gained a following this year. Creekside has also started making a great soft cheese called Petit Savoie, an homage to Reblochon. It’s really worth a try.
Another great discovery was Josephine. Fromagerie Ruban Bleu makes this lovely, wrinkly, rinded soft goat cheese from Quebec. Blue ribbon winner indeed! This charming little cheese is delicate yet complex in its goat flavour, with a lovely, creamy, dense texture. We're happy to have discovered it.
Some of our returning friends from the missing list were a welcome sight this year as well.
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Brebiou is a soft-ripened sheep’s milk cheese from the south of France. It has been coming in such beautiful shape, and the mushroomy flavour of this soft cheese will really wow you.
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Bethmale Vache is a beautiful cheese aged by the famous Affineur Herve Mons. The cheese is a raw cow’s milk made in the Pyrenees. It is kind of like a Tomme, with small, uneven holes in the paste and a funky, natural crust.
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Tomme de Chevre Onetik is a lovely, mild, semi-firm goat’s milk cheese from the famous Basque cheese maker Onetik. I love the buttery texture and the slightly fruity, rather than barnyardy, taste. Beautiful with a dry white wine before dinner.
Funny 2025 Trends In Cheese
Last year it was all about the truffle cheeses. I have to say I don’t love truffle-flavoured things, but we have had some very good-quality cheese over the past few years, and it seemed to reach a peak in 2024.
It always seems a bit funny to me to talk about cheese trends, because a lot of what we carry is more traditional and not at all trendy. The item that made a huge splash in 2025 is also a traditional product and not a new creation. French butter!
French butter has a reputation for being the best in the world. Certainly, when you are in France and have a simple baguette with butter, it is a somewhat religious experience.
The funny twist to this story is that there is an additional tariff on butter coming into Canada. This has nothing to do with the US – it is a dairy importation ruling in Canada to protect Canadian butter. This makes the cost of French butter somewhat ridiculous once we get it. This year, it didn’t seem to matter.
We couldn’t seem to keep it in stock, no matter how much we ordered, and we always had a list of people waiting for the call when the next shipment arrived. I realize butter isn’t really cheese, so it shouldn't be included in my cheese trends for 2025, but I personally love butter with cheese, so I think it still counts.
We’ve had a fun year at our store. It is always an adventure receiving new shipments, seeing new cheeses arrive, and welcoming old friends back.
I hope you have had a fun year, and I wish you all the best for the holiday season and the new year.
Allison
