From all over the world to your McMinnville table
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You have to be a romantic to invest yourself, your money, and your time in cheese.
- Anthony Bourdain
This Month in Cheese:
May 2025
Delice de Pommard
Pommard, France
The name Pommard comes from the village of Pommard in the Côte de Beaune in Burgundy. This unbelievable triple cream cow's milk is enrobed with Dijon mustard seeds. Delicate & creamy with a hint of spice from the mustard, Delice de Pommard is worth its weight in gold.
Delice de Pommard is a fantastic Pinot noir cheese. Produced by Monsieur Alain Hess in the village of Beaune, this unbelievable triple cream cow's milk is enrobed with Dijon mustard seeds. Delicate & creamy with a hint of spice from the mustard, this cheese is well worth having to pay for the airplane ride it took to the US.
Shaft’s Serendipity
Roseville, California
From Shaft’s, a cheese producer in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, this is an exquisite blend of Blue Vein Cheese and aged sharp cheddar. With both cheeses being aged for at least one year, the balance between the cheddar and blue make for an irresistible combination.
How could you go wrong with this beautiful stack of cheddar and blue? A veritable cheese cake. So throw a party or host a dinner – anything for an excuse to enjoy a slice of pure deliciousness.
Brillat Savarin
Burgundy, France
The French gastronome and politician Brillat-Savarin is the namesake of this buttery French triple-crème cheese. Its delicate, bloomy white rind contains a velvety paste with the texture of whipped buttercream. With notes of sweet cream, strained yogurt, and savory button mushrooms, this rich cheese is a decadent treat when enjoyed with Champagne and fresh berries or on a warmed baguette.
Melinda Mae
Mystic, Connecticut
Inspired by the Shel Silverstein Poem about a little girl who eats a whale, Melinda Mae is an award winning, American original bloomy rind cheese celebrated by cheese lovers nationwide since 2012.
Slice. Spread. Melt.
Bright and buttery with a silky, pudgy texture and a hint of button mushrooms on the finish. Pure deliciousness!
Leonora
León, Spain
A goat cheese from a small producer in León, Spain, Leonora is an exciting new import for goat cheese gourmets. This ash-covered cheese is made with the milk from cheese maker Oscar's own herd of Alpine goats. Leonora is a brick shaped, natural-mold-rind cheese which envelops a compact white paste. Although the center of the cheese is firm, it melts smoothly on your tongue.
Smooth and full-bodied with just the perfect balance of acidity and tanginess,
it is perfect paired with white wines.
Cape Foulweather & Mary’s Peak
Logsden, Oregon
From the award winning producer, River’s Edge Chevre, Cape Foulweather is a mighty, majestic pyramid of goat cheese and covered with vegetal ash. Her sister, Mary’s Peak is similar in majesty but has a bloomy rind. These complex, soft ripened cheeses are the heart of any cheeseboard.
Siltcoos
Logsden, Oregon
Siltcoos is an award winning farmstead goat's milk cheese also made by Rivers Edge Chevre. This bloomy rind, handcrafted cheese is soft in texture. During maturation, the wheels are coated with ash and fern-topped, that develops a bloomy rind. As it ages the clean and delicate flavours become spicier and stronger.
Siltcoos is creamy, buttery with a nice tangy finish. As it ages, it will become creamier but it probably won’t have a chance to age once you cut into it… you’ll eat it all in a matter of moments of hours…
Glacier Blue
Trout Lake, Washington
Crowd pleaser, Glacier Blue is back in our fridge!
Named after stunning Glacier Peak, in the North Cascades. Glacier Blue is an approachable blue with a luxurious texture and deliciously rich flavor. One bite of this masterpiece will wrap your palate in a blanket of salty savor, sink you into the most comfortable chair, and make it clear why locals have coined this "The Gateway Blue.” If you weren’t a blue lover before, this cheese will open that gate and step you through to the other side.
Tomme Brulee (Beillevaire)
Base of Mount Baigura in the heart of the Basque Country
As this natural rind sheep's milk cheese matures in the cave for 3-4 months, the rind becomes thicker and harder (but not as thick or hard as parmigiano-reggiano), and the flavors of the cheese become stronger with sweet, fudgy and nutty accents. The texture of the ivory cheese is incredibly smooth and silky, perfect for melting or just enjoying.
Near the end of maturation, the surface of the rind is burnt with a torch (like a fine Creme Brulee), giving the cheese complex and slightly smoky notes, and gives you ever more reasons to find ways to use the rind - once you have eaten all the silken inner cheese.
Sleeping Beauty
Trout Lake, Washington
From the Cascadia Creamery in Washington, Sleeping Beauty is made with the raw milk from cows grazing on the grasses grown in the rich volcanic soil of the Cascade Mountains. Buttery and sweet in flavor with a slightly tangy finish, its paste is a beautiful pale gold with small eyes. The texture is both creamy and slightly crumbly. It has a beautiful gray mottled rind that develops over the aging period of 75 to 100 days.
This is a great beer cheese.
Stompetoren Grand Cru Gouda
North Holland
Aging for 18 months in a facility with high humidity creates this robust tasting gouda chock full of caramel and toffee notes all while retaining a rich creaminess on the palate. Though is texture is rich, tyrosine crystals are scattered throughout giving that pleasing crunch. This is a perfect snacking cheese enjoyed alone to revel in the nutty sweetness or with a hearty bread to balance the richness.
Pair with caramel, whiskey or nutty sparkling wine.
Red Dragon
Wales
By World War II, cheese production in Wales had nearly ceased; run out of business by large cheesemaking factories in England. Fortunately for us, there has been a revival of old ways by a new generation of cheesemakers. Now, they are creating other fine cheeses such as Red Dragon, also known as Y-Fenni. This smooth, firm, tasty cheddar is made with Welsh brown ale and mustard seeds. Red Dragon is a buttery and spicy cheese with plenty of bite.
Suggested adult beverage pairing: Brown ale or full bodied red wine
Suggested food: Charcuterie, apple or try it as a grilled cheese sandwich
Soumaintrain
Bourgogne, France
Soumaintrain AOC is a French farmhouse cheese made with raw cow's milk in the Bourgogne region. This soft, washed-rind cheese undergoes a brine and Marc de Bourgogne wash during its production. It is Epoisses’ little sister; not so bossy and a lot less stinky.
Quinta
Point Reyes, California
Quinta is a soft-ripened, bloomy rind cheese, inspired by the very famous, seasonally-made Vacherin Mont d’Or . The interior texture is silky-smooth and the rind is fluffy, yet slightly firm with a Bay leaf embedded on the top.
Handcrafted at this Petaluma creamery from the highest quality pasteurized cows’ milk, each wheel is wrapped in Spruce bark that has been infused with the essence of CA Bay Laurel, which is indigenous to the region and ever-present on their farm in Point Reyes (all woman & family owned). Quinta is meant to be enjoyed at room temperature in a single sitting by removing a portion of the top rind and digging in with a small spoon or cheese spreader.
Try this cheese baked in a ramekin: 350 degrees, 12-15 minutes. When warmed, the essences of the bay leaf and birch bark belt are released and magical.
Serve with ham, cornichon, apple for an easy and impressive fondue alternative.
Mack & Cheese is located at 410 NE Third Street, Suite 7 upstairs above La Bella Casa
Hours: Thursday - Saturday 12pm - 5pm
Upcoming events
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Culture Club Pick Up Party
Friday, April 25th
4:30 - 6:30 pm
At the SpeakcheesyApril in Paris, did you say?
Bien sûr!April’s pick up party will feature French cheese delights.
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Mack & Cheese Store Hours
Thursday, Friday and Saturday
12pm - 5pmIf the sign is out, we are in!
We are located at 410 NE Third Street, Suite 7 in McMinnville, upstairs above La Bella Casa.
Want to schedule a private cheese tasting or a party? Go to our tastings & events page to schedule.
McMinnville Deserves Some Damn Good Cheese.
Nestled in the heart of Oregon’s wine country, on the native Kalapuya lands, you’ll find McMinnville, Oregon: a warm, inviting, and genuinely friendly community. Whether it’s the nostalgic feeling of walking below the twinkle-light filled trees lining the historic downtown or enjoying some of the world’s best Pinot noir, you’re sure to experience the warmth of the people you’ll meet in McMinnville.
Mack & Cheese is a nod to the culture of McMinnville and Yamhill County. Our cheese tasting room is in Suite Seven, above La Bella Casa in Historic Downtown McMinnville. One can come for a visit, the view, a taste-or all of the above.
Open Thursday - Saturday 12 - 5pm, Mack & Cheese sells bricks, blocks and wedges of world class cheese and offers complimentary tastings for Culture Club members. Private parties and tastings are also available.
Who’s Picking These Cheeses Anyway?
Meet Erin, the Mind and Mongress behind Mack & Cheese.
Erin Morgan Bowman has lived in McMinnville for nearly 30 years. She was recruited by the McMinnville Downtown Association during the revitalization of the 500 block of Third Street, led by Marilyn and Matt Worrix’s Tempo Building and McMenamins Hotel Oregon. Erin and her husband Marc founded Mes Amies Ladies Fineries in 1998 and Hopscotch Toys in 2001. The Bowmans sold both businesses in 2003, which allowed Erin to focus on raising their three daughters and supporting Marc’s growing career in technology. In 2011 Erin became a partner in 4 elements yoga studio, and Marc started a sensor technology firm in McMinnville in 2017. Today, the Bowmans’ commitment to small business and community has never been stronger.
Erin grew up in Lincoln City, Oregon, where her grandparents owned two grocery stores. “I’ve always loved grocery shopping. I take time to write a list and menu plan. I mindfully choose my ingredients, imagining their origins. I sometimes get lost in the fresh smells of the produce department but most of all, I love cheese.” Further inspired by international travels to France and the growing wine industry, Erin and Marc are throwing their hats in the local food scene with Mack & Cheese, a downtown fromagerie and gathering space.
In addition to tasting, selling and hosting cheese events, the suite of offices will also be the home of Erin Bowman Yoga. “Yoga in the morning, cheese all afternoon.” And really, when you think about it, yoga and cheese have a lot in common.
For more than 5,000 years, humans have been making cheese in nearly every corner of the world. Similarly, the true age of yoga is unclear, but artifacts and ancient texts suggest that the practice has been part of the human experience for more than 4,000 years. It’s impossible for Bowman to imagine a world without cheese or yoga.
“Our family loves McMinnville and we are so grateful for the chance to learn new skills, meet folks and host old friends. With so many wine tasting opportunities downtown, we’re thrilled to jump in and share our love for all kinds of culture—pun intended.” Mack & Cheese is located above La Bella Casa in Suite Seven, the previous home of the International Pinot Noir Celebration.
Mack & Cheese will be serving the community with subscription cheeses, just like a wine membership with monthly allotments and tastings.