The final days of 2017 have us in a reflective mood here at Murray’s. As we cement our resolutions and look forward to sharing our plans with you for the coming year, we are also taking stock of the last 12 months. We hit some major milestones this year, and we sold a lot of cheese-over half a million pounds in New York alone. Because we are in that transitional space between taking one calendar down and pinning another up, we figured we’d use this time to collate the most noteworthy moments of 2017 and put them all in one place. This is what a year in cheese looks like.

Murray’s Releases Stockinghall Cheddar

For years, we have been collaborating with some of our favorite cheesemakers to age their wheels in our caves, but this year marked the first time we released a cheese that we developed from scratch. That cheese is Stockinghall Cheddar, a classically clothbound truckle with meaty flavors of bacon and sour cream. It was created by our caves team in conjunction with Cornell University, where we shape the wheels before bringing them down to NYC for aging. We feel like proud parents, only instead of raising these wheels up and sending them off to college, we’re doing it in reverse.

The American Cheese Society Awards

The future is bright for Stockinghall, not least because it’s hanging out in our caves with a bunch of stars. This year’s American Cheese Society festival was held in Denver, CO, and three of our cave aged cheeses took home prizes in their respective categories. Greensward was voted best soft-ripened washed rind cheese in America for the second year in a row, and the third time in four years. Hudson Flower took top honors among sheep cheeses with flavor added, and Project X earned third place among all aged washed rind cheeses. Special shout out to our pals up at Spring Brook Farm for taking home Best in Show with their terrific Tarentaise Reserve.

400^th Store

Murray’s began partnering with Kroger in 2008 to expand the grocer’s specialty cheese program across the country. It’s been such a success that this November we opened our 400^th location, in Houston, TX. The location is amazing. Houston is a vibrant city and there is always something to do. In fact, here is a list of some fun activities to do in the city. It is this city’s electric atmosphere which made us want to open a store here. We are visited by both passionate locals who are the backbone of our business as well as curious tourists. We hope you will come to visit our store and try our fantastic product.

Kroger Makes it Official

And we are looking forward to opening in many more stores next year, as Kroger officially purchased Murray’s back in February. This gives us the ability to expand the reach of our mission of providing the best cheeses in the world. It also means we had a prodigious send-off for our previous owner, Rob Kaufelt, who transformed Murray’s from a corner village mart into one of the country’s top destinations for artisanal cheese.

New Murray’s Label Products

Along with a wider reach, we also brought some excellent new cheeses into our private line. From classic blue Stilton to the delectably creamy Delice de Bourgogne, you can now get more great cheese with our seal of approval. We’ve debuted some top-notch preserves, too. Our Preserved Pumpkin and Preserved Walnuts are both complete stunners, bringing a new possibilities to your pairing habit.

We’ll be rolling out more goodness in 2018, and we can’t wait for you to try it all. Until then, thanks so much for making 2017 a great year in cheese. Have yourself a happy New Year, and don’t forget to have some cheese with your midnight champagne.

The beginning of spring always seems a little dreary (personally, we don’t love the constant drizzle, even if we know it’s good for the plants). So here at Murray’s, we’ve been thinking about the best ways to make the season a bit brighter. And what better way of doing it than picking bright, floral, and sweet cheeses to get us in the mood for warmer, sunnier days? So, we’ve designed two delectable collections to get us in that springtime spirit!

Springtime Splendor is us looking forward to Easter – think chocolate bunnies, caramel sweetness, and flowers in the middle of the table for brunch. That’s where our inspiration came from when putting together this collection. First we took our award-winning Hudson Flower, which is dressed in aromatic flowers and herbs, and full of springtime flavors from the Hudson Valley. Then we add in 2 Year Aged Boerenkaas, which is filled with rich caramel sweetness. Need a little bit more of a tangy dessert after Easter brunch? Jasper Hill’s Bayley Hazen Blue has notes of dark chocolate within the tangy, piquant blue. But a springtime feast is more than just cheese! How about a few dollops of Murray’s Strawberry Rhubarb jam? Or maybe you could spread those delectable cheeses on Rip Rap Bakery’s Sea Salt Crackers. Finish it up with a handful of colorful and rich Chocolate Malted Milk Balls – decorated as beautifully painted pastel Easter eggs.

Meanwhile, we’re dreaming of sunshine, so we put together a trio hoping that it’ll come soon! We love the fresh, green grasses and warm breezes of spring, and of course, bloomy rind cheeses! We chose one of our favorites for this trio, Sweet Grass Dairy’s Green Hill, which is silky and creamy and loaded with rich, buttery notes. When you dollop a spoonful of Serramel Lemon Curd on top of the Green Hill, it’s like being hit with sunshine, adding a custardy tart bit of citrus to the mix. We like to spread both over Effie’s Homemade Oatcakes – think of it as a nice picnic to celebrate that spring is here and (hopefully) will be blooming soon!

Did we get you in the mood for Spring yet? Even if the weather isn’t acting like it, we hope you can welcome in the season the best way we know how – full of bright, sunny cheeses and sweet delights.

We are so very honored to have just received two “Best in Class” awards for our Cavemaster Reserve cheeses  — Greensward and Hudson Flower — at the US Cheese Championships on March 19th in Wisconsin!

Greensward and Hudson Flower are two of eight Cavemaster Reserve cheeses, which are sourced from local cheesemakers and begin as young artisan cheeses before going through the affinage tradition.  Murray’s team tries various methods and special applications, determined by the cheese, including covering a cheese in herbs, or wrapping in brandy-soaked apple leaves, or washing in local beer, but most importantly, allowing time and attention to develop each cheese’s full flavor potential.

Greensward, bathed in cider and brine, is big and bacony, with a luscious, silky texture and notes of forest and resin from its tidy spruce jacket. Hudson Flower is more delicate with its coating of herbs like hops flower and thyme. Both are beautiful reflections of the flavors of New York state.

Stay tuned — we plan to introduce 3 new Cavemaster Reserve cheeses in the coming year!