This Week's Warehouse Tasting: The Year in Review

The past year has been good to the Dairymaids. We got an AC unit, a bright orange awning and shelves of beer and wine. We started cooking more and threw some excellent parties. We also celebrated our fifth birthday and we couldn't be more happy and grateful. We hope you'll come by and see us on this last week of 2011 to say hello and pick up any cheeses for the New Year's parties you're going to. Cheers to an equally amazing 2012! We have to make it count before the Mayan calendar runs out.

This week on the plate, we have some Mountaineer from Meadow Creek Dairy in Virginia. It's similar to Comté or a cave-aged Gruyere in its firm texture and caramel-rich nuttiness. Rick and Helen ensure that their Jersey cows get the best grass by using rotational grazing methods that keep the land and the cows well-nourished.

We'll also have the lovely, soft-ripened Sofia from Capriole in northern Kentucky. The dense, fudgey cheese has a layer of delicate vegetable ash and a white, bloomy rind. The plate's big finish will come from Bayley Hazen Blue, a bold American Stilton from Vermont. We're all about big finishes this weekend.