Dunbarton Blue Cheese

Dunbarton Blue: A Wisconsin Original

Dunbarton Blue cheese blends an English-style white aged cheddar with a subtle hint of blue flavor. This unforgettable, award-winning cheese is sure to be the star of any grazing table. Made by Master Cheesemaker Chris Roelli of Roelli Cheese Haus outside of Shullsburg, WI, Dunbarton Blue cheese is a hand-crafted cow's milk variety that's cellar-aged for at least 90 days, creating a natural and edible rind. Cheddar intentionally pierced at specific intervals with the mildest of blue-green lines, Dunbarton is a blue that will win over the biggest blue cheese skeptics with its beefy, nutty flavors and ever-so-slight blue funk.

Roelli Cheese Haus

Roelli Cheese Haus is a small, family-owned cheese factory founded by Chris's great-grandfather in the 1920s. Along with Dunbarton Blue, Roelli is renowned for its Red Rock cheese – named as one of the prestigious “Top 20” cheeses in the 2022 World Championship Cheese Contest – and for Little Mountain, an Alpine-style variety that won the Best in Show award at the 2016 American Cheese Society contest. Roelli also makes fresh cheddar curds, cellar-aged cheddars, and other small-batch artisan varieties. You won't find a lot of computers and automation at Roelli Cheese Haus – they make cheese the old fashioned way: in small batches, with local milk, with their own hands.

Cheesemaking in Wisconsin

Wisconsin is home to some of the most talented cheesemakers in the world – masters of their craft who are both carrying on artisanal traditions and constantly innovating new varieties. Alongside amazing new varieties like Dunbarton Blue, you'll find new cheeses and Wisconsin Originals like Widmer brick cheese, Swiss Emmentaler from Edelweiss Cheese, gouda parmesan cheese from the Chalet Cheese Co-op, and The Blue Jay cheese, a quintuple cream blue from Deer Creek Cheese.

All about Dunbarton Blue cheese

How is Dunbarton Blue cheese made?

Made in a small, 300-gallon artisan cheese vat and named for a neighboring township, Dunbarton Blue is produced like a classic English-style cheddar, but with Penicillium roqueforti mold added to the milk before it's pressed into wheels. When the cheese is a week old, cheesemakers pierce the wheels with spikes, creating channels to provide oxygen that enables the mold to grow. However, rather than allowing the cheese to breathe and the mold to flourish as is common when making blue cheese, Roelli presses the wheels in traditional cheddar style to limit the mold's growth and to give the cheese the slightest hint of delicate blue flavor. Dunbarton Blue is made with local, premium milk in small batches using traditional processes. “Like it or not,” says Roelli, “my two hands touch every wheel.”

What does it look like?

Dunbarton Blue has a beautiful ivory color with subtle but stunning greenish-blue lines. The texture is creamy but a tiny bit crumbly, and the cheese bites like an aged cheddar with a naturally edible rind.

What does it taste like?

The flavor of Dunbarton Blue is sharp, creamy, and compelling. It combines the beautifully balanced and nutty flavor of a patiently aged cheddar with delicate hints of blue.

How should Dunbarton Blue be served?

Always serve this exquisite cheese at room temperature. Store it in the refrigerator and enjoy it within three weeks for optimum flavor.

Pairing Dunbarton Blue with beverages and bites

The bold, unique flavor profile of Dunbarton Blue cheese means you'll want to be careful in your food and beverage pairings.

With beverages

Owing to its big blue and aged cheddar profile, Dunbarton Blue cheese is best paired with “back-slapping” beverages – hearty drinks that can hold their own with this cheese's bold flavors. For beers, consider a porter, brown ale, or imperial stout. For stronger stuff, a sip of port or barrel-strength bourbon will match the strength of Dunbarton Blue. If you're thinking wine, try a cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, malbec, or merlot.

With food

Because Dunbarton Blue cheese deserves a starring role, it's best served on a cheese board, crumbled over salads, or as a table cheese to begin or end a meal. On a grazing board, Dunbarton Blue pairs beautifully with crusty artisan breads, sweet and tangy chutneys, marinated mushrooms, candied walnuts, bacon-wrapped dates, thinly sliced pears, and dried Wisconsin cranberries.