Well, well, well. Looks like we got ourselves an old-fashioned Californy cheese-off. Three acclaimed cheesemakers from three distinct parts of California coagulate for the first time on Wine.Woot. And there can only be one winner: you, the cheese lover of America.

Straight outta Haarlem (in the Netherlands, we mean), Jules Wesselink brought his Dutch cheese-crafting skills to Artesia, California in the ‘50s. Skipping one step ahead of the L.A. sprawl, he moved his operation to Chino and then to Winchester. That’s where Jules’s daughter Valerie Thomas and her husband David made this buttery, rich, farm-fresh Mild Gouda. Aged at least 60 days, this Boere Kaas (that means “farm made”) cheese took the Gold Medal at the L.A. County Fair. We didn’t even know L.A. County had a county fair.

Back in the ‘70s, Mary Keehn of Humboldt County discovered that she had a talent for selectively breeding goats. This is not the kind of thing that ever happens to people like us. But then, people like us don’t make internationally-recognized cheeses like Mary’s Cypress Grove line of fine goat cheeses. But don’t take our word for it: ask New York’s Summer Fancy Food Show, which awarded Cypress Grove the Outstanding Product Line award in 2007. With lavender and fennel pollen adding a sweetness to the cheese’s natural acidity, Cypress Grove Purple Haze Chevre proves that Humboldt County can excel at more than one type of produce.

And then there’s our old friends at Point Reyes, back again with the Original Blue Cheese we featured about a year ago. It’s not a 3-pound wheel this time, just a 1-pound wedge. But it’s still made from hours-old milk from cows that graze on the hills overlooking Tomales Bay, north of San Francisco. It’s still made by the Giacomini family, who’ve been raising milk cows there since 1959. And it still boasts a much fuller flavor and creamier texture than your average blue, perfect with Syrah or Port.

You won’t find cheeses like this plastic-wrapped in individual slices. You won’t find them anywhere, in fact, except California and Wine.Woot. And maybe on your table this holiday season, unless you’re crazy enough to let this incredible cheese triple-play pass you by.

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