A blue cheese called Rogue River Blue, made by Rogue Creamery in Central Point, was declared the best cheese in the world at the 2019 World Cheese Awards.

No one could have guessed in 1933 that a tiny Southern Oregon cheese company now called the Rogue Creamery would someday produce the world’s best cheese and have it served at the White House. Everyone, however, is invited to a block party to celebrate the creamery’s 90th anniversary.

The free-to-attend Artisan Corridor Block Party and Rogue Creamery Birthday Bash will be held from 2-5:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 22, outside the Rogue Creamery facility and shop at 245-311 N. Front St. in downtown Central Point. Also participating are neighboring purveyors Lillie Belle Farms Handmade Artisan Chocolates, Coquette Bakery and Ryan Rose Wine.

A ticket needed to taste bites and pairings is for sale at $6 plus a processing fee at RogueCreamery.com/celebrate. A limited number of tickets will be sold at the event, say organizers.

There will also be live music, food trucks, raffle prizes and the Rogue Creamery’s Vault Sale offering a limited, variable selection of slightly imperfect cheeses at discounted prices.

Rogue Creamery’s anniversary weekend continues at the Harvest Dinner Celebration on Saturday, Sept. 23, at Troon Vineyard, 1475 Kubli Road in Grants Pass, with the release of wheels of 2023 Rogue Creamery’s World Champion cheese, Rogue River Blue, produced in the autumn at the creamery’s certified-humane dairy and wrapped in Troon’s Syrah grape leaves.

Tickets to the seated dinner prepared by Chef Kristen Lyon of Jefferson Farm Kitchen must be purchased in advance ($150, RogueCreamery.com/celebrate).

On Sunday, Sept. 24, Rogue Creamery will offer a free behind-the-scenes look at its organic Dairy Farm where pampered cows graze on 65 acres of lush pasture along the banks of the Rogue River or roam at whim inside a giant, open barn called the Cow Palace. Tours will start on the hour between 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at 6531 Lower River Road in Grants Pass.

The artisan, certified organic cheese company became famous around the globe after its Rogue River Blue was crowned best cheese in the world at the 2019 World Cheese Awards, besting 3,800 competitors, including famous brands from Europe.

Here are more highlights of the Rogue Creamery since 1933, according to the company:

• Southern Oregon’s first artisan creamery cooperative, the Rogue River Valley Co-op, was founded in Central Point in 1933 to support local dairy farmers during the Great Depression.
• Two years later, Gaetano “Tom” Vella and Celso Viviani acquired the small co-op, renamed it the Sonoma Valley Cheese Factory and transformed it into a thriving company.
• During World War II, the cheese factory produced more than 1 million pounds of cheddar cheese a year for four consecutive years to feed U.S. troops.
• In the early 1950s, Vella became the sole owner, renamed the plant the Rogue River Valley Creamery and studied the recipes, techniques and cave aging of blue cheese from master cheesemakers in Roquefort, France. The creamery’s Roquefort-styled blue cheese production began in 1953 with the first wheels of Oregon Blue.
• In 1998, Ignazio “Ig” Vella inherited the creamery from his father, Tom, and focused on artisan, handmade cheese created from milk from cows that benefit from the Rogue Valley’s fertile soils, water and pastureland.
• In 2002, David Gremmels bought the company, shortened the name to Rogue Creamery and developed the next generation of artisan cheeses, including the distinctively Oregon Rogue River Blue. Rogue River Blue is only created when cooler autumn weather and rain in the Rogue River Valley bring renewed growth to the creamery’s dairy pastures and cow’s milk is at its best. The wheels are wrapped in tender Syrah grape leaves picked in the spring and soaked in pear liqueur. The wheels continued to age and are released for sale nearly a year later around the time of the Autumnal Equinox.
• In 2003, Rogue River Blue was the first non-European blue cheese to win World’s Best Blue Cheese and Reserve Champion overall at the World Cheese Awards held that year in London.
• After earning prestigious medals and recognition, Rogue Creamery applied for the United States’ first raw-milk cheese export health certificate, paving the path for other American cheesemakers.
• In 2006, Gremmels and his team debuted Smokey Blue, the world’s first smoked blue cheese.
• In 2009 and 2013, Rogue River Blue was served at President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Ball. The late Queen Elizabeth II was also “quite partial to this cheese,” and “we took great pleasure in sending her wheels to enjoy over the years,” according to company spokeswoman Marguerite Merritt.
• In 2013, Rogue Creamery was certified as Oregon’s first Public Benefit Corporation (“B Corp”) based on its positive governance policies and impact on environment, workers and community.
• In 2018, Gremmels partnered with French-based Savencia Fromage and Dairy to retain Rogue Creamery’s local character and roots, while supporting the company growth.
• Rogue River Blue was named the best cheese in the world at the 2019 World Cheese Awards in Italy.
• Two months after the September 2020 Almeda fire devastated Rogue Valley cities, the company launched a self-sustaining Cheese Is Love campaign to help southern Oregonians who lost their homes and livelihoods in the fire or due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, a matching donation to a southern Oregon food bank is made for every $16 sale of an eight-ounce block of extra-aged Cheese Is Love cheddar.
• At the 2022 World Cheese Awards, the organic, ultra-creamy Bluehorn blue cheese was one of 96 cheeses to win a Super Gold medal. Silver and bronze medals were given for the original Roquefort-style Oregon Blue, robust Crater Lake Blue and sharp, nutty Cheese Is Love cheddar.
• Rogue River Blue was served to French President Emmanuel Macron at a White House state dinner on Dec. 1, 2022.

Year-round visits: The Rogue Creamery Cheese Shop at 311 North Front St. (Hwy 99/ N. Pacific Hwy) in Central Point is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily except New Year’s Day, Easter, July 4, Thanksgiving and Dec. 25 (541-200-2353, roguecreamery.com/visit-cheese-shop).

Free tours of the Rogue Creamery dairy are offered twice a day when the Rogue Creamery farm stand at 6531 Lower River Road in Grants Pass is open. Check for updates at roguecreamery.com/visit-dairy. No reservations are needed except for large groups, including school field trips, which will be accommodated outside of public tour times. Call 541-471-7292 for more information.