# The best cheeses in the world

The top three of TasteAtlas' 2025/26 world cheese ranking (Greece's Graviera Naxou dethroned the usual French and Italian names) followed by the great cheeses that cheesemongers everywhere agree on.

- 180 votes · 21 items
- Mar 19, 2026 · Amit Das
- https://even.best/en/l/140/the-best-cheeses-in-the-world

## Top 20

1. **Graviera Naxou (Greece)** (24 · ▲25 ▼1) — Hard cow's milk cheese from the island of Naxos, number one in TasteAtlas' 2025/26 ranking.
2. **Parmigiano Reggiano (Italy)** (22 · ▲22 ▼0) — Long-aged hard cheese from Emilia-Romagna and Mantua, the 'king of cheeses'.
3. **Comté (France)** (13 · ▲14 ▼1) — Raw milk mountain cheese from the Jura, aged from 4 to over 24 months.
4. **Gruyère (Switzerland)** (12 · ▲12 ▼0) — Nutty Swiss alpine cheese, the base of fondue moitié-moitié.
5. **Mozzarella di Bufala Campana (Italy)** (11 · ▲11 ▼0) — Fresh stretched-curd buffalo cheese from Campania.
6. **Queijo de Azeitão (Portugal)** (9 · ▲10 ▼1) — Runny sheep's cheese set with thistle, from the Arrábida hills near Setúbal.
7. **Roquefort (France)** (8 · ▲9 ▼1) — Sheep's milk blue aged in the caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon.
8. **Brie de Meaux (France)** (7 · ▲8 ▼1) — Bloomy-rind raw milk cheese crowned king of cheeses in 1815.
9. **Torta del Casar (Spain)** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — Spoonable thistle-set sheep's cheese from Extremadura.
10. **Halloumi (Cyprus)** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — Squeaky grilling cheese of goat and sheep's milk, PDO since 2021.
11. **Serra da Estrela (Portugal)** (4 · ▲5 ▼1) — Buttery sheep's milk cheese from Portugal's highest mountains.
12. **Manchego (Spain)** (3 · ▲6 ▼3) — Sheep's milk cheese from La Mancha with a zigzag rind.
13. **Stilton (England)** (3 · ▲5 ▼2) — Blue cheese protected since 1996 and made only in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.
14. **Gorgonzola (Italy)** (3 · ▲5 ▼2) — Creamy blue from Lombardy and Piedmont, dolce or piccante.
15. **Camembert de Normandie (France)** (3 · ▲4 ▼1) — Ladle-moulded raw milk soft cheese from Normandy.
16. **Emmentaler (Switzerland)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — The Swiss cheese with big holes, from the Emme valley.
17. **Pecorino Romano (Italy)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Salty sheep's cheese, essential for carbonara and cacio e pepe.
18. **Gouda Holland (Netherlands)** (1 · ▲4 ▼3) — Dutch cow's milk cheese, from young and mild to aged and crystalline.
19. **Feta (Greece)** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Brined sheep and goat's milk cheese, PDO since 2002.
20. **West Country Farmhouse Cheddar (England)** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — Clothbound cheddar from Somerset, Devon, Dorset and Cornwall.
21. **Époisses (France)** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Washed-rind cow's milk cheese from Burgundy, rinsed in marc de Bourgogne, with a strong aroma.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.