Wilde Weide (VIL-da VEYE-duh) is a standout from affineur Betty Koster's lineup of Dutch cheeses, and one of the best goudas we carry. Yes, it's a gouda—but pinning that label on it undersells what's in the wheel. 

It comes from a single farm on a 300-year-old island in the southern Netherlands, where Jan and Rose van Schie keep a small herd of Montbéliarde cows. The cows, the cheesemakers, and the cheese itself are the only things living out there. Once a wheel of their organic gouda is ripe and ready, it gets loaded onto a boat and ferried to the mainland—there's no other way off the island. What lands is floral and fully ripe, with deep bourbon-brown notes underneath and a creaminess that's hard to find anywhere else.

Very little of it is made, and only a sliver reaches the U.S. through the importer Essex St. Cheese. If it's on the shelf, grab it while you can.

Next to other goudas, this one leans bright, sweet, and fruity. The flavor opens slowly, expands, and finally settles into that signature gouda butterscotch tang right at the end. It's a beauty.

Country: Holland
Milk: raw cow's milk
Rennet: Animal