It’s the cheesiest time of the year—and what better way to celebrate the season than with a cheese subscription box full of delightful goodies? Our subscriptions make great gifts, too—the first box even comes with a free year of cheese paper!

Here’s what’s going into our Monthly and Meet the Makers Quarterly boxes this month—and don’t forget to check out our 2022 Holiday Gift Guide, where you can purchase gift subscriptions that start shipping in January!

What’s in This Month’s Cheese Subscription Box?

We’ve curated some very special selections for the holidays in December’s Monthly Cheese Subscription Box! Serve these luscious wheels and perfect pairings as an appetizer at your holiday party, bring them along to a festive potluck dinner, or enjoy them in a cozy, cheesy meal at home on a long winter’s night.

December Cheeses

• Petite Truffle: We like to pull out all the stops for the holidays—and so does Marin French Cheese. The interior of this beautifully balanced triple-creme is studded with earthy bits of black truffle. Pair this award-winning wheel with sweet with sour cherry conserve or amp up the umami with sliced coppa and Effie’s oatcakes.
• Cownty Tales Reserve: This bitey yet buttery wheel from Vermont’s Boston Post Dairy spends at least 21 months in the aging cave, giving it ample time to develop nutty, caramel flavor notes and pleasantly crunchy tyrosine crystals. This golden wedge’s dark, dramatic dark wax rind is tinted with black cocoa powder to give it its color. Try it with a Sicilian salted caper and a glass of sparkling white wine.
• Bay Blue: This rustic yet mellow blue from Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese just might convert the blue-averse—after all, it’s earned a Good Food Award. When pairing, remember that opposites attract. Thanks to its salted caramel finish, we love pairing this blue with a glass of port and a dollop of sour cherry and pomegranate conserve.

Not a fan of blue cheese? We’ve got a very special wedge to swap in for you: Roth Grand Cru, a much-awarded Wisconsin take on classic Alpine cheese made in traditional copper vats to amp up floral, nutty, and fruity flavors.

December Accompaniments

• Walnut Oatcakes with Cranberry and Fennel: With their delicate sweetness and unique texture, Effie’s Oatcakes are one of our favorite baked goodies to pair with soft-ripened cheeses like Petite Truffle.
• Sliced Coppa: With a deeper, richer flavor and denser texture than prosciutto, this La Quercia salumi pairs beautifully with Petite Truffle.
• Caravaglio Salted Capers: Fragrant and intense with a pleasant crunch, these salt-cured flower buds from Sicily make an incredible pairing with long-aged wheels like Cownty Tales Reserve. Be sure to rinse them before serving—the salt is quite strong!
• Sour Cherry Pomegranate Conserve: We adore this Persian-inspired preserve from our friends at Le Bon Magot to highlight cheeses ranging from soft and mild to pungent and salty. It’s also incredible on duck breast for the holidays if you want to add on a few jars.

We’ve always got some delicious substitutions at the ready to accommodate dietary preferences! Nut-free folks will receive crunchy Firehook Sea Salt Crackers instead of oatcakes, and we’ll swap out the coppa with Dequmana Mixed Olives for vegetarian subscribers.

Order your box now and receive a free year of reusable, sustainable cheese paper!

Meet the Maker Quarterly Cheese Subscription: Chris Gentine of Deer Creek Cheese

Our Meet the Maker Quarterly Cheese Subscription is your opportunity to connect with the skilled artisans making some of the world’s best cheeses. Our final Meet the Maker session of 2022 features Chris Gentine, licensed cheese grader and owner of Deer Creek Cheese in Sheboygan, Wisconsin!

We’ve been obsessed with Chris’s cheeses ever since we started including The Stag, a citrusy, crystalline long-aged cheddar, in our virtual tasting boxes back in 2020. Deer Creek’s entire product line is incredible and utterly unique, with each selection named for a different animal.

Order by December 8 at 11:30 p.m. Eastern to get your box of four luscious Deer Creek cheeses in time for our exclusive Meet the Maker Zoom session with Chris Gentine on Thursday, December 15 at 6 p.m. Eastern! Can’t make the live event? We’ll send you a recording so you can learn on your own.

Quarterly Cheese Subscription Selections

Here’s what we’ll be tasting with Chris on December 15. Subscribe now and get a year of free cheese paper with your first box!

• The Robin: Buttery and savory, this old-fashioned Colby is named for Wisconsin’s state bird. It’s so good it took Best in Class at the American Cheese Society competition earlier this year. Enjoy it with tart apple, sweet strawberries, and hard cider.
• The Imperial Buck: This 4-year-aged version of The Stag has won big at the American Cheese Society competition, the World Cheese Awards, the World Championship Cheese Contest, and many more. Nutty and robust with a sweet butterscotch finish, it’s delicious with dark beers, full-bodied reds, and dried cherries.
• The Wild Boar: Pepper Jack, but make it truffle! Deer Creek folds in bits of woodsy, savory truffle to creamy Monterey Jack curds to make this incredible wheel with an earthy sweetness. Enjoy it on a board with nuts, cured meats, and sparkling wine, or melt it into a festive mac ‘n’ cheese or mashed potato dish to make the holidays even brighter.
• The Blue Jay: This ultra-lush blue is boosted with not one but two special add-ins that make it utterly singular. Deer Creek adds extra cream for richness and dried juniper berries for a floral, piney aroma, making this blue the perfect accompaniment to your favorite gin cocktail. It’s also incredible melted over steak or served alongside dark beers, bold reds, and fresh fruit.

Shop Our Holiday Guide for the Best Cheese Gifts

Looking to give a cheese subscription that starts shipping post-holiday? Our 2022 Holiday Gift Guide makes it simple and easy to take care of holiday shopping for the cheese lovers in your life.

Cheese gift boxes, 2023 cheese subscriptions, storage, servingware, and digital gift cards—it’s all there, complete with order deadlines to ensure your goodies arrive in time. Shop now and get your holiday gifting done in a flash!

What’s your favorite cheese to enjoy for the holidays? Tag us @cheesegrotto on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter and let us know!