CENTRAL POINT, ORE. — Artisan cheese maker Rogue Creamery introduced the 2024 vintage of its heralded Rogue River Blue, keeping with the company’s tradition of releasing the specialty cheese just in time to coincide with the autumnal equinox.

The creators of the organic blue cheese, which won the top honor at the 2019-20 World Cheese Awards, said its flavors reflect the company’s home in southern Oregon.

Rogue Creamery said the process begins by sourcing milk, which it ages in vats, from its dairy cows. The cheese wheels are aged for nine to 11 months and hand-wrapped in what the company described as “biodynamically grown grape leaves” that were soaked in pear spirits.

The handcrafted cheese, the creamery explained, evolves as it matures, “making it a nuanced cheese to explore and revisit well into the holiday season.”

The organic cheese maker added that Rogue River Blue has a bright, mild and tangy profile in late summer and early fall, while “notes of fermented fruit, plus savory and umami flavors, emerge as the cheese ages and becomes creamier.”

Roughly a year after the signature cheese is crafted, Rogue Creamery makes it available throughout the United States, as well as a number of other countries. The company said its Rogue River Blue is now available at select specialty cheese shops and counters in the US.

With origins that date back more than 90 years, Rogue Creamery noted it operates with an emphasis on sustainable farming practices and cows that graze on nutrient-rich, certified organic pastures.