The Award-Winning Roth Cheeses Worth Adding to Your Board

The Award-Winning Roth Cheeses Worth Adding to Your Board

Swiss roots, Wisconsin milk, and a lineup that ranges from mellow and creamy to funky and full-on bold — Roth Cheese has quietly become one of the most recognizable names in specialty cheese. And with more than 325 awards behind the label, it’s safe to say the industry has noticed.

Made in the rolling hills of Wisconsin, Roth blends old-world cheesemaking traditions with the kind of approachable flavors that work just as well on a weeknight grilled cheese as they do on a carefully styled charcuterie board. Their cheeses are crafted using milk sourced from nearby family dairy farms, all 100% rBST-free, which helps explain the rich texture and consistency cheese fans keep coming back for.

The brand’s biggest headline moment came in 2016, when Grand Cru® Surchoix earned the title of World Champion at the World Championship Cheese Contest — a major win in the cheese world and a pretty serious flex for a Wisconsin creamery.

But awards aside, Roth’s real strength is variety. Whether you lean creamy, nutty, sharp, smoky, or a little funky, there’s probably a wedge with your name on it.

The Creamy Crowd-Pleasers

Roth’s semi-firm cheeses are the easy favorites — the kind that disappear quickly at gatherings and melt beautifully into comfort food recipes.

Their Havarti and Gouda selections are especially versatile. Creamy Havarti and Original Gouda work as dependable kitchen staples for mac and cheese, burgers, or sandwiches, while flavored varieties turn the volume up with additions like jalapeño, chile peppers, smoke, and horseradish. It’s the kind of cheese lineup that understands not every cheese board needs to behave politely.

The Semi-Hard Staples

This is where some of Roth’s most recognizable cheeses live. Semi-hard styles like Grand Cru®, Butterkäse, and Fontina strike that sweet spot between approachable and complex — firm enough to slice cleanly, but still rich and creamy.

Favorites in this category include:

• Original Grand Cru®
• Grand Cru® Reserve
• Butterkäse
• Fontina
• Mezzaluna® Fontina

These cheeses tend to bring buttery, nutty flavors with just enough aging to add depth without intimidating anyone at the table. They’re crowd-pleasers in the best way.

The Hard Cheeses With Serious Flavor

When Roth leans into aging, things get deeper, richer, and a little caramelized around the edges.

Hard cheeses like Grand Cru® Surchoix, Aged Gouda, Prairie Sunset®, and Canela develop layered flavors that can range from nutty and fruity to earthy and slightly sweet. These are the cheeses that show up shaved over pasta, melted into restaurant dishes, or parked front-and-center on a cheese board next to a jam that costs more than expected at the farmers market.

Grand Cru® Surchoix remains the standout here — a washed rind alpine-style cheese with a long aging process and the championship title to back up the hype.

For the Blue Cheese Skeptics — and the Obsessives

Blue cheese can divide a room fast, and Roth seems fully aware of that.

Their Buttermilk Blue® is designed as a softer entry point: creamy, mellow, and less aggressive than traditional blues. On the opposite end, varieties like Buttermilk Gorgonzola and Smoked Moody Blue® lean sharper, smokier, and more assertive for people who want that unmistakable blue cheese punch.

The signature blue-green veining comes from penicillium roqueforti, the mold culture responsible for the category’s bold flavor profile. Roth’s lineup gives both cautious newcomers and longtime blue cheese loyalists something to work with.

What Exactly Is a Washed Rind Cheese?

Washed rind cheeses sound intimidating until you realize they’re responsible for some of the most savory, umami-packed cheeses around.

The process involves washing the outside of the cheese with brine during aging, encouraging beneficial bacteria growth that helps develop deeper flavor and aroma. Texture can vary widely depending on aging and cultures used, but the payoff is usually rich, savory complexity.

For a brand rooted in tradition, Roth has managed to stay remarkably approachable. It’s specialty cheese without the intimidation factor — award-winning, Wisconsin-made, and equally comfortable on a restaurant menu or next to crackers during a fridge-cleanout dinner situation.

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