Pictures by: Angela
Cheese and Wine Traders is a local family-owned shop. It allows you to shop gourmet cheese, wine, cider, craft beers all in one shopping trip. A shop where you can shop on a budget, save money, get handmade gift baskets, or customize your own. It gives you a new food shopping experience.
About Cheese and Wine Traders
Cheese and Wine Traders has two levels. From the outside of a store, it looks like a big family house. When you walk up the stairs, you arrive at its entrance. You might feel overwhelmed by all the options and not knowing where to start, but take your time, and enjoy.
Store Layout
The store has divided into a few sections, the entry floor (second level) has cheeses, beer & ciders, made in Vermont goods, gourmet selections and closeout items, even miscellaneous grocery items. The bottom floor (first level – basement) has all the wine selections.
Guided Tour Of The Store
Let’s have a guided tour of the store. In the main entrance to your right is the bulk section, on your left is the coffee, Vermont section, and the cashier will be directly in front of you. I hope this might give you a general idea of where all the food sections are located and get into details of each section Cheese and Wine Traders has a lot to offer.
Let’s follow my lead to navigate in the store. From the entrance, starting on the right towards the bulk section, you can find dry goods, candies, and snacks. Don’t worry if you want a specific amount as bulk, feel free to ask the staff for assistance. In front of the bulk section, there is a cooler of beer & wine & cider, followed by the cheese case. Yes, cheese!
Cheese Section
This is a must-stop in the store. You can find lots of Vermont and international cheeses in this case. In this case, you can find cheeses made with pasteurized milk, raw milk, cow’s milk, goat’s milk, sheep’s milk, and more, some are dairy-free too.
Cheese Varieties
Some of the best varieties such as Cheddar, Colby Jack, Pepper Jack, Muenster, Monterey, Horseradish, Habanero, variety of flavored cheese, international cheese like Manchego, Swiss, Emmental, Gruyere, Gouda, Butterkase, Havarti, some cream cheese, blue cheese, aged cheese, cheese curd, cheese spread, and .. well you get the point. There are lots of cheese options.
Cheese Special: Housemade Cheeseballs During Thanksgiving and Christmas
For sure one of the best times to come by the store is around Thanksgiving and Christmas, there are limited house-made cheese balls for sale! Limit qualities only once per year, so cheese lovers make sure you get one before they are sold out. They are delicious. You can get two cheeseballs and be creative to have a “cheesy snowman” on your cheese board for the holiday.
Vermont Award-winning Cheeses
Vermont cheese has earned lots of awards nationally, and around the world. I am sure you would be surprised by the cheese collection and take your time to find the cheeses you like.
Vermont & International Cheese Recommendation
You might wonder what cheeses does this store carries. Not sure what cheeses to get? Want some ideas of what Vermont cheese they have? I have listed some cheeses recommendations out below for your shopping reference.
- Cabot (Aged cheddar, Garlic & herb, and tomato & basil)
- Shelburne farm (Aged cheddar – 6 months, 1 year, and smoked cheddar)
- Maplebrook Farm (Mozzarella, Cheddar bites, Ricotta, Block feta)
- Bridport Creamery (Cheese Curd)
- Jasper Hill Farm (Bayley Hazen Blue, Harbison, Alpha Tolman, Cabot Clothbound, Willoughby, Cave aged cheddar, OMA, Mose sleeper, Weybridge)
- Spring Brook Farm (Ashbrook, Reading, and Tarentaise)
- Boston Post Dairy (White Diamond, Gisele, Tres Bonne, and cheese curds)
- Plymouth Artisan Cheese (Brie – Ballyhoo, Blue Cheese – Red. White & Blue, all the flavored cheeses are great too, my favorite would be Hunter, Smoked, and Black Truffle)
- Grafton Village Cheese (Aged cheddar, Smoked Maple, and Truffle)
- Vermont Creamery (Mascarpone – served with toast or make yummy dessert like Tiramisu , Goat cheese logs, Bonne Bouche, Cremont, Bijou, Coupole, St. Albans)
- Blue Ledge Farm (Lake’s Edge, Crottina)
- Champlain Valley Creamery (Organic Champlain Triple, Organic Queso Fresco)
- Blythedale Farm (Vermont Brie, Camembert)
- Von Trapp Farmstead (Oma, Mad River Blue, Mt. Alice)
- Boucher Family Farm (Gore-Dawn-Zola, Boucher Blue)
- Consider Bardwell Farm (Pawlet, Rupert, Danby)
There are lots of great cheeses in Vermont and I can’t list everyone individually. If you want to try out some cheeses, there are free cheese samples down the cheese case, and you can get service from one of the cheesemongers working in the cheese section. You can ask them for some recommendations and pairing as well. All the cheese slices are prepared with plastic wraps in the cheese case and cut by cheesemonger on a regular basis. They do take requests for custom cuts of cheese, so no worry if you want a certain quantity of a specific cheese.
Other items you can find in the cheese case are honey mustard, whole grain mustard, cornichons, grated Parmesan & Pecorino. Additionally, there are meat products, like sausages, salami, meat sticks, and chorizo. If you see Vermont sausages, get them, they are just so good. The last recommendation for the cheese section I have for you is cheddar brats, a sausage of Schaller & Weber with Plymouth Artisan Cheese.
Okay let’s take a break from cheese, sometimes I just can’t stop thinking of cheese……….*shakes head* okay let’s move on as there are plenty more items in this store.
Gourmet Section
The huge section on this floor is a gourmet specialty. Shop for bread, all the sweet treats, snacks, pasta, sauces, dressing, canned goods, and even a little bit of household products near the corner shelf.
The cooler in the back is where you can find the milk, closeout cheese, drinks, and refrigerated products.
Check out the Vermont section near the cashier too. There are Vermont-made jams (Sidehill Farm, Potlicker Kitchen, Blake Hill Preserves – all great with cheese), Castleton Crackers, Lake Champlain Chocolates, Birnn Chocolate Truffles, King Arthur Flour, sauces, etc. There are lots of great Vermont-made goodies in here.
Wine Section
For wine lovers, check out the bottom floor for all the local and international imported wines. It is like a shopping paradise for wines. It has wine tasting regularly, so if you ever want to try out some wine before purchase, stop by the wine tasting every week or check out the schedule, there is typically a posted sign and date for this so make sure to ask the staff.
Tips For Shopping
Cheese & Wine Traders offers sales throughout the year. There are cheese and wine deals of the week, few big sales within the year. For holiday seasons, this is a great place to shop for getting gift baskets and anything local or special to bring a taste of Vermont home.
Thank you for joining me on the guided tour of the store. It was wonderful to share my shopping experience and cheese recommendation with you. Have fun shopping! 🙂
Cheese & Wine Traders
Address: 1186 Williston Rd, South Burlington, Vermont 05403
Phone: +1 (802) 863 0143
Hours: Monday to Sunday 10 am to 7 pm
