We arrived at the 2019 Fancy Food Show with open minds and empty stomachs, and we nearly had to be rolled through the doors of the conference center from all the delicious fare we tried (there were, indeed, many fancy foods there).
Now, not that we’re complaining, one thing we saw and ate an overwhelming amount of was cheese. We encountered stand after stand with grand, glorious piles of it on nearly every aisle, but these weren’t your typical cheese wheels. Sure, we saw some of the classic Parmigiano-Reggiano, but we also noticed some that got us craving more information about cheese wheel looks and label designs.
First things first: why a wheel? After all, cheese could be far more convenient to transport in block form, wouldn’t it?
“There is no clear and definitive reason why most cheeses are round,” said Sam Wilkin. He founded Cellarman in 2017, a company which organizes events, does consulting, and hosts podcasts, all of which focus on cheese. He admitted, though, that there were a few key considerations which explain why cheese is round today.
The first is practicality—trying to craft up a shape with all the correct 90° angles would prove a bit tricky. A round shape also ensures an even maturation process, so the final product has the full range of flavor in each bite. “There is nature and the laws of physics,” Sam added. “A spilled drop of milk naturally settles into a round shape, so too does a pile of freshly milled curds. The best cheese is made when we work with nature, be it the microflora in the air or the cultures in the milk.”
And last, of course, there’s the tradition of it all—cheesemaking dates back more than 4,000 years. “Artisan food and drink is in many ways governed by heritage,” Sam admitted. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”
Unless you’re a cheesemonger yourself, one good old-fashioned cheese wheel might look just about the same as the next. This is where labeling and design come into play.
“A good-looking label works as any other label would,” Sam explained. “It defines a brand, it is eye-catching, and it says at a glance, for example, ‘This is Marcel Petite Comte, it’s going to be delicious!’”
Other information shows up here as well, including the Date of Make, the producer name, and the Batch Number (which is useful for tracing if a cheese is ever opened and has some kind of flaw). This type of information is etched into the rind of some fine cheeses, like Parmesan or Parmigiano Reggiano, whereas cheeses with the large labels on top are Alpine in nature.
“We can also tell from the color of label what grade or quality we can expect,” added Sam. “Comte is the best example of this. There is a band around the edge of the comte, and if it’s green then we can expect a cheese worthy of the cheeseboard, or a brown label, for example, is for cooking fondue.”
Of course, a consumer doesn’t typically purchase an entire wheel of cheese (unless they’re living their best life)—so why would cheesemakers go through the trouble to design something at all?
“Typically it will be a cheesemonger who sees the cheese in whole,” Sam advised. “But often the labels are one specific color palette, and this allows the final consumer to recognize a specific style or quality of cheese. If you look at the labels, they are often segmented, and the information is repeated, and this means there’s a good chance the final consumer will have all the info on hand.”
Cheese Wheels Designs We Love
Delicious cheese is a thing to behold, and so, too, is its design. Here are a few of our favorite cheese wheel designs.
Parmigiano Reggiano
A classic. The words and numbers embedded into the hard rinds of fine cheeses like this serve a purpose, indicating things like the region and country of origin or certification markings.
Cheeseland’s Fourmage Four Milks Cheese
Sheep, cow, goat, and buffalo milk combine to make this cheese, a combination we’re sure took a lot of care to perfect. The brand wanted to highlight how special it was through the packaging on the wheel.
Designer Ellen Leon of The Singing Tree said, “The owner of Cheeseland wanted to put a painting on the label. This would emphasize how the cheese itself is a work of art. The large wheel label is printed on a tissue paper in Holland. That paper is placed on the cheese surface instead of wax.”
Caputo’s Cheese Caves
While the cheesemakers at Caputo’s Cheese Cave aren’t afraid to experiment with ingredients like liqueurs, truffle butter, and beer, their packaging speaks to tradition and high quality. With a classy Art Deco inspiration, they still manage to have fun, too (their youngest cheese, aged the minimum amount of time, is called “Barely Legal”).
“Crack into one of these big ladies and prepare to be enveloped in its piña colada aromas. Tubby’s paste is bright yet brothy with a rind like crunchy peanut butter that will leave you craving another bite.”
Named for one of Brooklyn’s prominent 19th-century architects, William Bunker Tubby, the artwork on this cheese wheel looks almost like a music fest poster. Sure, there’s a lot going on in the image (mountains, flowers, and lots of cheese wheels laying around), but the lines are drawn finely and with a clean look.
El Pastor Cheeses
“Spain is known for a vibrancy that permeates all aspects of the culture, from music to art and of course the cheese,” according to the El Pastor website. While their offerings are more traditional, their packaging is anything but. Rather than going for old world flair, the bold colors and chunky style makes their Iberico, Manchego, and Wine-Soaked Goat Cheese absolute standouts.
