Spring 2005 • Vol. 5, Issue 1

New Artisan Cheese BookLaunched

American Farmstead Cheese: TheComplete Guide to Making and SellingArtisan Cheeses will be hot off the press in

May. It is the work of University of Vermont(UVM) Professor and Co-director of the Institutefor Artisan Cheese, Paul Kindstedt PhD, alongwith assistance from his Institute colleagues andmembers of the Vermont Cheese Council.

Kindstedt, an honorary, lifetime VCC member,has been putting the final touches on the 300-page book for the past year. It contains ninechapters dealing with topics ranging from:

• The Rhyme and Reason of Cheese Diversity • The Eight Basic Steps of Cheesemaking • The Business of Farmstead Cheesemaking

Also included are numerous charts,illustrations and contributed sections fromVermont cheesemakers including Cindy Majorand Allison Hooper.

Proceeds from the sale of the book will benefitthe Vermont Cheese Council. For information onordering call 800-639-4099 or visit the ChelseaGreen website: www.chelseagreen.com.

Also in this issue:❧ Saveur Magazine lists Vermont cheeses among

50 favorites.❧ More awards for VCC cheesemakers❧ New cheeses announced❧ Wine and cheese reception this June on Lake

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MESSAGE FROM THE VCC PRESIDENT

Ready, Set, Make Cheese!

Finally, we are nearing the end ofwinter in Vermont. I do believe thateven the snowboarders and skiers

are ready for spring. And for those of uswho have most of our fun off the slopes,we are anxious to get up to our elbows incheese curds once again and start makinggreat Vermont cheese.

A lot has happened here in Vermontthe past six months. One of the biggestissues that cheesemakers have been facingis what it means to be a “Farmer” in and to the stateof Vermont. Current state law puts most of us intothe “Processor” category rather than into the farmercategory. For tax and other regulatory purposes, thisclassification can make a huge financial difference.Even though we milk our own herds, drive tractors,cut hay, have barns, and make cheese from our milk,we are still not considered farmers.

It sounds simple, and maybe even seem a trivialpoint to some. But most of us are doing what we dofor the love of it, and not to get rich. So any sort ofhelping hand or break we can getis useful. As many within andoutside our state alreadyappreciate, the small scale dairyfarmer is an endangered species.In Vermont alone we lost over 80farms just in the past year.Basically, what we need is for thestate to embrace our endeavors,recognize what it is we are tryingto do, and value that as much aswe do. We are looking to keepthese dairy traditions alive andkeep Vermont the oasis that we allcherish it to be. While politiciansand regulators continue to debatethe issue, we cheesemakers willcontinue to have our say. We will

work to raise awareness of the value thatsmall scale dairies add to this economy byproducing locally made, quality cheeses.

On the lighter side, the VCC has beenrevving up in its activities. Recentprojects that will help all cheesemakers inthe state are being tackled by variousmembers. Some are trying to helpimplement an outline for Product andPlant testing for our members. Some areworking on putting together resource lists

that will tell folks who and what the options arewhen it comes time to order boxes, paper goods,hoops, moulds, rennet, etc. Some are activelyengaged in making stronger ties between the VCCand the newly created Vermont Institute of ArtisanCheeses at the University of Vermont. We are alsocontinually partnering our organization with othersin the state for various events. For instance, we arecollaborating with a winemaker in the LakeChamplain Islands for a June event - sort of asummer kickoff with various cheeses, wines, live

music, and other local artisancrafts. And if none of you havebeen to it yet, don’t miss theStrolling of the Heifers inBrattleboro. This event, also inJune, attracts thousands ofvisitors to our state every year –to sample cheeses among otherthings. There’s nothing like aparade of cows down Main Streetto remind you of what a specialplace Vermont is. So check outour calendar listings in this issuefor more details and enjoy thebeauty and bounty of Vermontthis season.

Jamie Miller, Shelburne Farms

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Champlain Valley CreameryMade-to-order, artisinal, organic cheeses

LET’S VISIT...

The building that houses theChamplain Valley Creamery indowntown Vergennes, Vermont

has a cheesemaking history of itsown. If the walls could talk, theymight recall the days in the early1900s when local farmers showed upwith pales of fresh milk to be hoistedup to the second floor creamery by aconveyor belt system and thereturned into butter and cheese. It wasa scene replicated in many Vermonttowns during that era.

The 21st century approachOne might think that in the

ensuing century, the method of smallscale milk delivery and cheeseproduction might havegotten easier. Not so. Ifanything, it’s even morelabor intensive now. Somuch for a modern pulleysystem. Carleton Yoder,proprietor of ChamplainValley Creamery and makerof every pound of organic oldfashion cream cheese andricotta salata made here nowcarries six, 110 pound palesof fresh, organic milk up twoflights of stairs every time hesets out to make cheese. Theprocess is building physicalmuscle and business acumenin the self-proclaimed“Cheese Guy,” and no one’s more surprised aboutthe turn of events thatCarleton himself.

School for thoughtAs a graduate student

in electrical Engineering

at Virginia Tech, Yoder hardly hadthoughts of a future as acheesemaker. But one day whilesitting in class he came to a startlingrevelation: he didn’t want anelectrical engineering career. Instead,he reverted to one on his earliest andmost lasting interests: food, andtransferred into the Food ServiceDepartment where he earned aMaster’s Degree in 1996.

While still at school, Carleton hadan internship at a winery in easternVirginia. This experience broughthim back full circle to the valuesinstilled in him in his childhood inPennsylvania Dutch country where

one always knew the source of one’sfood. The concept of taking a rawagricultural material (be in grapes,apples or milk) and turning it into aproduct of value that people wouldenjoy appealed very much toCarleton.

After graduation he landed a jobas an Assistant Hard Cider Maker inMiddlebury, where he remainedemployed for the next many years.In 1999, the Middlebury companywas sod to a large corporation basedin the UK. It was then that Carletonsaw the “globalization” of this once,local product. Even the apples thatwere used in the hard cider makingwere no longer grown in New

England. Losing connectionwith the local aspects of thejob turned his thinkingelsewhere. The desire to getback to the type ofindigenous food productionhe had known and admiredas a young man plus a lovefor all things fermented,eventually promptedthoughts of cheese making.Practical experience earnedwhile making cheddarcheese at Shelburne Farmsin 2003 confirmed hisinterest. Soon, his kitchen-based experiment of makingorganic cream cheeseappeared to have themakings of a new, nichebusiness.

Carleton Yoder in front ofthe old wood fire boiler thatheated the creamery in theearly 20th century.ph

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Made-to-orderReviving the facilities on the

second floor of the Kennedy Brothersbuilding in Vergennes, to theiroriginal use as a creamery wasCarleton’s first task. After assessingthe potential for local demand of afresh, organic cream cheese madewithout any stabilizers or additives,Carleton set to work. In mid-November of 2003, he contractedwith a local farmer in Bridport toprovide him with 60 gallons at a timeof organic, cow’s milk. He purchasedand converted a 60-gallon kettlewhere he could vat pasteurize theraw milk. The Champlain ValleyCreamery was born. Within threedays of acquiring milk and beginningthe process, he would have a yield of100 pounds of fresh, high moisturecontent, organic cream cheese readyfor sale.

The Creamery’s first foray intoretail sales was to coincide with theopening of hunting season in the fallof that year. With high hopes at 6am,he set out some of the 200 eight-ounce tubs he had packed by hand.By morning’s end he had sold a totalof seven tubs, four of them to friends.This less than auspicious launch didnot dampen his enthusiasm or beliefthat his product, the only one of its

kind in the state, would find anaudience. Persistent contact withregional coops, restaurants andfarmer’s markets proved Carletonright. Today the product is literallymade to order.

Winning feedback Early on in his cheesemaking

career, Carleton decided to enter hisnew cheese into a competition sothat he could get feedback whichwould allow him to improve theproduct. What he wasn’t expecting toget back was a second place award inthe highly competitive FreshUnripened Cow’s Milk category at the2004 American Cheese Societycontest. Overnight his fledglingproduct had gained credibility andrespect among fellow cheesemakersand would-be customers. Nothing

opens doors like success.Doors continue to open to

Champlain Valley Creamery. Newoutlets for the product include WholeFoods Market which has started toorder the product through a Boston-based distributor. The well-knownMurray’s Cheese Shop in New YorkCity has also become a customer ashas Formaggio’s Kitchen in Boston aswell as selected restaurants aroundthe region. Champlain Valley’s otherproduct, Ricotta Salata, has also wonacceptance among restaurants andrepackers. You can find theseproducts at Vermont retailersincluding: Middlebury Natural Foods,Fat Hen, Vergennes; Field Farm,Ferrisburgh; Mountain Greens,Bristol; City Market, Burlington;Healthy Living, South Burlington;Shelburne Supermarket andShelburne Farms Welcome Center,Shelburne; Hunger Mountain Co-op,Montpelier: Elsewhere, ChamplainValley sells products at the Co-opFood Stores in Hanover and Lebanonas well as the Boston and New Yorklocations already mentioned.

Building on the baseThe four-week shelf life of

Champlain Valley Creamery productspose challenges of their own. But italso drives home the point that thischeese is “fresh.” Ever thepragmatist, Carleton has learned thatthe cheese freezes well and alsoproduces the most delicious and richcheesecake imaginable. While hecontinues to provide cheeses “madeto order,” he is seeking to expand hisproduction to double what it is today.With a formula that includes noemployees, a ready supply of organicmilk, and a supportive wife, CarletonYoder and his Champlain ValleyCreamery is well on the way toreinventing the small scale creameryso much a part of Vermont’s historyand legacy.

To learn more about theChamplain Valley Creamery, visit online at www.cvcream.com or e-mailCarleton at cheeseguy@cv.com. Carleton Yoder pours fresh milk into a vat.

Overnight his fledgling product hadgained credibility andrespect among fellow

cheesemakers and would-be customers.Nothing opens doors

like success.

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The Vermont Institute forArtisan Cheese (VIAC),located at the University of

Vermont (UVM), offers classesthroughout the year to would-becheesemakers as well as to thosealready in the field who are lookingto expand their repertoire and/orhone their craft. Participants have aunique opportunity to sample thefinest handmade cheeses from acrossAmerica and abroad. Courses will betaught by the Institute’sknowledgeable faculty and staff, inaddition to internationallyrecognized experts, who will discussissues confronting the global artisancheesemaking industry. Wine, beerand cheese pairing suggestions willbe offered at each class as well.

Upcoming offerings include:

September 7: An Introduction toAmerican Raw Milk Cheeses

Among the great artisan cheesesmade in America, the raw milkversions are uniquely blessed.Beyond wonderful cheddars, thereare dozens of aged cow, goat andsheep cheese to whet your appetite.This course focuses on Vermont, thenation’s leading raw milk cheeseproducing state, and explores thedifferences between raw andpasteurized milk cheeses, some ofthe controversy surrounding theseproducts, and the growing array ofunique tastes.

October 19: An Introduction toFrench Fresh and Soft RipenedCheeses

General Charles De Gaulle’sfamous statement “How can yougovern a country where there are246 types of cheeses?” reflects greatnational pride for the amazing

history, culture, land and humaningenuity that created such anenormous bounty. This course willexplore France’s affection for cheeseand the notion of terroir—the sum ofland, climate, history and culture.

November 9: The Best of theHarvest and Holidays: Wine andCheese Pairings

Just in time for celebrating theholiday season! In this land of

Northern New England are foundsome of America’s finest artisancheeses. This course will combine anarray of Vermont cheeses with selectwines from the region, creatingexciting possibilities for your holidaytable and seasonal gift giving.

Registration cost are $80. for earlyregistrants (14 days in advance) vs.$90.

Classes are held from 7-9 pm, inthe Waterman Manor on the UVMcampus which offers free parking.For more information or to register:on-line: www.regonline.com/18148

E-mail: jfarnham@uvm.edu orwww.uvm.edu/viac; Call: JodyFarnham, Program Coordinator forVIAC, 802-656-8300

Cheesemaking Courses Offered at Institute

Also Teaching CheeseCarleton Yoder from Champlain Valley Creamery was the invitedspeaker at the “Food for Thought” culinary weekend at the Spa atNorwich Inn in Norwich, CT, on January 9th. He was asked by ChefDaniel Chong-Jimenez to speak about the “New England cheesemakerexperience.” Yoder also participated in a Middlebury College winter-termclass entitled “Eating Locally, Thinking Globally” taught by Will Stevens,local organic farmer and proprietor of Golden Russet Farm in Shoreham.The class of 22 students visited the Champlain Valley Creamery facilityon the field trip portion of the class to hear Yoder’s story as a member ofthe local food economy in Addison County.

Mateo Kehler of Jasper Hill Farms is one of the VCC cheesemakers whohas been asked to teach a course at Murray Cheese Shop in New YorkCity. Mateo’s course, held on April 13th took a look at processdifferences which allow cheesemakers to start with the same rawmaterial and end up with five totally different cheeses.

Cynthia Major from Vermont Shepherd was one of the featuredspeakers at The Third Annual Cheesemaking Opportunities andChallenges Conference held on April 19-20, in Sonoma, California. The theme of this year’s conference was “Better Tooling Cheesemakersto Meet Market Expectations”.

Larry and Linda Faillace from Three Shepherds of the Mad RiverValley teach three-day cheese making courses at their Warren, Vermontlocation. Attendees receive a copy of The Art of Cheesemaking, a manu-al written by Freddie Michiels, Dr. Larry Faillace, and Dr. Glenn Cahilly.These classes, offered under the auspices of Ag Innovations, wererecently the subject of an article in the March issue of Elle magazine.

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The Training Center forFarmstead Milk Processing,turned two years old in

January. It began operating atWestminster Dairy at Livewater Farmin Westminster West, Vermont inearly 2003 and, after several monthsfound a permanent home at theWoodcock Farm in Weston, Vermont.

The Center has proven to be auseful resource for those who wantto know more about the art andscience of making dairy products onthe farm. In the past 14 months, 60people; mostly farmers andfarmstead cheesemakers but alsochefs, educators, and marketers,have received instruction in theprocesses of turning milk into a widevariety of cheeses, butter, sourcream, Crème Fraiche, buttermilkand yogurt.

The novices have gotten a genuinefeeling for the reality of operating afarmstead milk processing businessand the experienced cheesemakershave learned to make many newvarieties of cheese. Some of thehighlights from the weekendworkshops have been:

• Exploring traditional cheese-making techniques and developingrecipes to make cheeses fromdifferent regions of the world

• Using sheep, goat, and cow milksand observing the differences incomposition and properties forcheesemaking

• The science of soft-ripenedcheesemaking (bloomy rinds andsmeared rinds) with Dr. PaulKindstedt of the University ofVermont

• How to effectively use starter andripening cultures (EZAL and

Lacto Labo) with Margaret Morrisof Glengarry Cheesemaking andDairy Supplies

• Cheese tasting and evaluationsessions

• Shared group learning aboutfarming, cheesemaking, milkprocessing, business and life

A typical weekend workshop hasaccommodated a group of five to tenpeople, who have spent most of theirtime learning to make four kinds ofcheese and other dairy products.What started as a workshop lunchbreak has evolved into a cheese

The Training Center Turns Two

tasting and evaluation sessionbecause many participants havebrought in their creations for othersto try. Sampling local cheeses fromWestminster Dairy, Woodcock Farmand Taylor Farm and critiquingcheeses made in previous workshopswere part of the experience forattendees.

One weekend tasting included fivetommes from cow, goat, sheep andmixed milks made by four differentcheesemakers. Afternoons arededicated to lectures and roundtablediscussions about techniques,conditions and facilities for agingcheese; composition and use ofstarter cultures; equipment;marketing; and other related topics.

The collective progress the Centerhas made in nurturing the activity ofmaking dairy products, especiallycheeses, on farms and in artisanbusinesses has been exhilarating,according to its director, Peter Dixon.Dixon who plans to continueoperations at the Center for at leastanother year says, “It seems as if

Mark Fischer of Woodcock Farm discusses the art of aging cheese.

continued on page 8

The collective progress the Center has made innurturing the activity ofmaking dairy products,especially cheeses, has

been exhilarating.

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Amy TrubeckExecutive Director,Vermont Fresh Network

Making a link between whereand how food is grown andprocessed and food quality

is vital to the creation of asustainable food system that laststhrough this century and beyond.Over the last 25 years, Americancooks and chefs have realized thatthe quality of the food they put onthe plate is influenced by the qualityof the raw ingredients they purchase.They have become importantadvocates and consumers of fresh,locally grown agricultural productsfrom small producers. They lead theway in advocating that food thattastes good is food that comes fromknown locales, referred to as, “thetaste of place.”

The agricultural departments, insome states, have developed labels ina concerted effort to promote andpolice food products from their state.For example, the VermontDepartment of Agriculture promotesstate agricultural products with aseries of place- based labels, calledthe Vermont Seal of Quality Program.Two labels are the Commissioner’sChoice, where 100 % of the food isproduced and processed in Vermont,and the Vermont Value-AddedProduct, where 85percent of all thevalue is added in the state or theproduct is processed out of the statebut with all Vermont farm products.

The Vermont Fresh Network(www.vermontfresh.net) is one ofseveral organizations dedicated tolinking local farmers with restaurantsand other food service institutions.Farmers and chefs developagreements about purchasing goodsand promoting their products. Abrochure of Vermont Fresh Network

The Taste of Placerestaurants and their partner farms isdistributed at tourist centersthroughout the state.

Europe has long made the linkbetween how and where food isproduced and quality. This isespecially the case in France. Forexample, the French state supportsthe Institut National d’Appélationsd’Origine, a branch of the Ministry ofAgriculture dedicated to preservingand policing the link between quality,small-scale production practices, andprotection of locale.

The Ministry of Agricultureregulates and oversees a variety ofquality-based labeling initiatives, thelargest of which is AOC, orAppellation d’Origine Controlée.These labels are awarded to groups ofagricultural producers who candemonstrate a tradition of small-scaleproduction in a region that isdistinctive in terms of flavor andquality (called the gôut du terroir).This began with wine but nowextends to cheese and otherproducts. There is a clear need and agrowing market in the United Statesfor the development of a nationwideagricultural policy to support,regulate and promote locally andsustainably-produced food and wines.

The forces of industrialization andglobalization have radicallytransformed our food supply in the20th century. However, these forceshave helped carve out new uniquespaces that will ultimately allowsmall, local, and diverse farming toexpand and thrive. These spaces arein many ways being created by newconsumer demands. More and more,health and safety concerns definitelydrive the purchasing decisions ofmany consumers. Buying from localsources you know and trust canalleviate concerns and questions onthe source and safety of your food.

Some consumers are buying local tosupport environmental causes.

All these efforts are made moreappealing when you realize your foodand beverages will taste better. Thedifference between Kraft CrackerBarrel and Grafton Gold Cheddar isremarkable: the Cracker Barrel isgummy, rubbery and bland where asthe Grafton Gold is tangy, butteryand smooth.

The “taste of place” is anotherelement in the shift in consumerapproaches to food and foodpurchasing decisions. Many chefs,restaurateurs and gourmet consumersrealize that the food from such localfarms tastes better. Bringing togetherfarmers and artisan producerscommitted to preserving sustainablepractices and all types of consumerswho link food quality to sustainablefarming practices is an excitingprospect.

Taste of Place/Suggested Readings:Terroir by Hugh Wilson The Art of the Commonplace

by Wendell BerryComing Home to Eat by Gary

Paul NabhanRecollections of France:

Memories, Identities andHeritage in ContemporaryFrance edited by SarahBlowen, Marion Demoissierand Jeanine Picard

Slow Food Cookbook by Corby Kummer

Taste of Place/Dining Out

If you’d like to dine at aVermont restaurant that servesVermont made cheeses, chooseamong the following:Smokejacks in BurlingtonSimon Pearce in Woodstock The Chef’s Table in MontpelierThe Dorset Inn in Dorset

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In 2003, Slow FoodUSA inauguratedthe American Raw

Milk Farmstead CheeseConsortium byconducting a cheesetasting and evaluation at the FrenchCulinary Institute in New York.Farmstead cheeses can be defined ashaving been produced on thecheesemaker’s property, using onlymilk from his or her own animals.The farmstead cheeses representedby the Consortium are producedlargely by hand, and reflect theconnection between the land, theanimals, and the cheesemaker.Through the Consortium, Slow Foodintends to raise awareness ofAmerican farmstead cheeses —particularly those made from rawmilk, which according to regulationsmust be aged a minimum of 60 days— and to serve as a resource to theproducers, who face the dailychallenges of maintaining theirfarms, tending to their animals, andfinding the time to make cheese.VCC members who currently belongto the consortium include:Blythedale Farm; Bonnieview Farm;Cobb Hill Cheese; Doe’s Leap;

Green Mountain BlueCheese; Jasper HillFarm; Lakes EndCheeses; NeighborlyFarms of Vermont;Orb Weaver Farm;

Peaked Mountain Farm; ShelburneFarms; Vermont Shepherd (MajorFarm); Willow Hill Farm; andWoodcock Farms.

About Slow FoodsThe founding father of the Slow

Food Movement, Carlo Petrini,recognized in 1986 that the industri-alization of food was standardizingtaste and leading to the annihilationof thousands of food varieties and

flavors. Concerned that the worldwas quickly reaching a point of noreturn, he wanted to reach out toconsumers and demonstrate to themthat they have choices over fast foodand supermarket homogenization.He rallied his friends and began tospeak out at every availableopportunity and soon the movementwas born and Slow Food wascreated. Today the organization isactive in 50 countries and has aworldwide membership of over80,000. For more information, visit their web site:http://www.slowfoodusa.org/about/index.html.

Slow Foods Champions Raw Milk Cheeses

New MembersMichael Lee and Emily Sunderman are new VCC

members under the name of their goat dairy, TwigFarm. The couple recently madethe move from Boston to thefarm which is located in WestCornwall, VT. Here, Michael is

shown brining some of their first cheeses whichshould be ready for sale come July. Look for afeature on Twig Farm in a future issue.

there will always be a place for this“reality-based” training center.” Inthe coming year, workshops willlikely include the making of cheesessuch as Gorgonzola, Stilton, Bleu deGex, Roquefort, Brie, Camembert,Crottin and other aged goat cheeses,Chevre, Feta, Gouda, Havarti,Citeaux, Cheddar, Chesire, Colwick,Caerphilly, Tomme, Toma, Romano,

Provolone, Mozzarella, Ricotta,Asiago, Appenzeller, and Swiss. Somenew ideas posed for the trainingcenter include:

• Classes about cheese agingtechniques and conditions(affinage), and designing cellarsand caves

• Beginner classes with instructionin starting milk processingbusinesses

• Workshops taught by foreign

cheesemakers about theirtraditional cheesemakingpractices

• Apprenticeship programs

• Presentations about the scienceand craft of making differentcheeses

For more information about futureofferings, contact Peter Dixon,pdixon@sover.net 802-387-4041, orPO Box 993, Putney, VT 05346.

Training Center Turns Twocontinued from page 6

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home a second place for theirFarmhouse/Hendricks Farms“Keystone”.

Willow Hill Farm won GrandReserve Champion and first place fortheir washed rind cow’s milk cheese,Fernwood at the Royal AgriculturalShow, held in Canada last November.Fernwood was also awarded a bronzemedal in the washed rind category atthe 2005 World Cheese Awards.

Vermont Butter & CheeseCompany took home the followingfrom the 2005 World Cheese Awards:gold for Mascarpone, silver forQuark, silver for Fromage Blanc, andbronze for Goat Cheese. VB&C also

won a gold medal for their UnsaltedButter as well as a second place fortheir food service packaging for theirVermont Cultured Butter at the 2005U.S. Championship Cheese contestin Wisconsin in March

Also in the winner’s column at theU.S. Championship Cheese Contestwas Cabot Cooperative Creamerytaking a second place award for theiraged cheddar and Peaked MountainFarm who took home a third placeaward for their Vermont Dandy, rawmilk sheep’s cheese, and FranklinFoods who pocketed three third-place awards in the Reduced FatCheese, Flavored Spreadable Cheeseand Mixed Milk cheese categories.

Champlain Valley Creamery wasinadvertently omitted in our round-up story of American Cheese Society(ACS) winners this year. Their OldFashion Organic Cream Cheese tookhome a second place award in theFresh Unripened Cheese category.See story in this issue on ChamplainValley Creamery.

At the American GoatAssociation’s Annual Meeting inAlbuquerque, New Mexico, two ofVCC’s cheesmakers walked awaywith awards: in the Soft RipenedPlain category Lazy Lady Farm tookfirst place with their “La PetiteTomme” while in AmericanOriginals, Lakes End Cheeses took

Awards and Accolades

The April issue ofSaveur magazinefocused on theexplosion inhigh qualityfarmstead andartisancheeses inthe US. Theissue, whichfeatured amulti-pagespread,included alisting oftheir editors’ top 50American cheeses. Among those to get thenod were cheeses from our VCC membersGrafton Village Cheese, Shelburne Farms,Vermont Butter & Cheese Company, VermontShepherd, Woodstock Water Buffalo (Star HillDairy), and Jasper Hill.

Respect Your Cheesefrom Saveur, April 2005

• Never freeze cheese

• Buy only what you can eat between now andyour next visit to the cheese shop

• Don’t wrap cheese in plastic film

• Gray and blue molds that develop on cheeseare fine; black and red molds should be cut off

• Store blue, washed-rind and white-moldcheeses separately

• Keep your cheese in a large, lidded plasticcontainer in the warmest part of the refrig-erator

• Before serving cheese, let it come to roomtemperature

• Always taste mild cheeses first, then the morepungent ones.

those from the country that gave uscheddar were: Cabot Creamery,Grafton Village Cheese, ShelburneFarms, and Jasper Hill.

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In addition to the Wine Spectatorarticle, Grafton Village Cheese hashad a run of good publicity thisspring. In the March 8 issue ofFamily Circle, there was a photo andcaption of Grafton’s four-year-old

The Vermont Lodging andRestaurant Association’s annuallegislative reception was held at theCapital Plaza in Montpelier onTuesday, March 29. NeighborlyFarms, Cabot CooperativeCreamery, Champlain ValleyCreamery and Willow Hill offeredcheeses for sampling.

New on the retail side is Au BonPain’s introduction of their“Sandwich baked in parchment”which is a Tuna sandwich paired withAged Shelburne Farms Cheddar,Roasted Red Peppers. Au Bon Painhas over 230 locations worldwide.

The March issue of Wine Spectatorcarried an article entitled “A BraveNew World of Cheddar,” in whichAmerican cheddars were comparedand stacked up against those fromEngland. VCC members who werecited as producing cheddars to rival

SMALL BITES

Willow Smart and Carleton Yoder with Vermont Governor Jim Douglas.

left to right: Linda Dimmick, Neighborly Farms, Jed Davis, Cabot; WillowSmart, Willow Hill and Carleton Yoder, Champlain Valley Creamery at theVLRA event.

Blythedale Farms, makers ofVermont Brie, Camembert Vermont,Green Mountain Gruyere, CookevilleGrana and Jersey Blue, have newowners. Tom and Becky Loftus havetaken over cheese production at this100 year old farm in Corinth. (photofrom web site or VCC library)

Snow Farm Vineyard, Vermont’sfirst commercial vineyard and grapewinery, and the Vermont CheeseCouncil will host a Vermont CheeseFarmers Market and Wine Tasting onJune 11 at the vineyard on LakeChamplain. Visitors will be invited tosample and purchase directly fromthe VCC cheesemakers who attend.See Calendar of Events for contactinformation.

Cheddar. The same article featuredcheddars from Cabot Creamery. TheApril issue of Real Simple Magazinelooked at Grafton’s 4, 5 and 6 yearold cheddars, the latter of which wasalso showcased in the tradepublication, Fancy Food & CulinaryProducts. Other coverage includedBon Appetit, Intermezzo andNewsDay Magazine.

Carleton Yoder of ChamplainValley Creamery along with JohnPutnam of Thistle Hill Farm andHannah Sessions of Blue LedgeFarm participated in a paneldiscussion of Vermont craft cheeseheld at Middlebury College in March.The session was sponsored by theNACUFS Regional Conference, anorganization made up of food-service/dining hall service providers.

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Vermont CheeseCouncil MemberCheesemakers

Bingham’s Farm, MiddleburyBlue Ledge Farm, SalisburyBlythedale Farm, CorinthBonnieview Farm, Craftsbury

CommonCabot Creamery Cooperative,

CabotChamplain Valley Creamery,

VergennesCobb Hill Cheese Co, HartlandConsider Bardwell Farm, W.

PawlettCreek Road Cheese Company,

IrasburgCrowley Cheese, HealdvilleDoe’s Leap Farm, BakersfieldFrog City Cheese, PlymouthGrafton Village Cheese

Company, GraftonGreen Mountain Blue Cheese,

HighgateHope Farm Sheep Cheese,

CharlestonJasper Hill Farm, GreensboroLa Fromagerie du Royaume,

GuildhallLakes End Cheeses, AlburgLazy Lady Farm, WestfieldMaryella Farm, E. CorinthNeighborly Farm, RandolphOrb Weaver Farm, New HavenPeaked Mountain Farm,

TownshendShelburne Farm, ShelburneStar Hill Dairy, S. WoodstockTaylor Farm, LondonderryThistle Hill Farm, N. PomfretThree Owls Sheep Dairy,

GranvilleThree Shepherds of the Mad

River Valley, WarrenTwig Farm,W. CornwallVermont Butter and Cheese,

WebstervilleVermont Shepherd, PutneyWillow Hill Farm, MiltonWoodcock Farm, Weston

New Cheeses on the Block

The multi-award winning cheeses of Willow Hill Farm have a new

release in their repertoire. It’s a seven-ounce bloomy rind cheese

made from their rich Brown Swiss cows’ milk called, La Fleurie—like

a mini-Camembert which will be available June-January.

Jasper Hill Farm recently released (and sold-out) Aspenhurst, a

traditional cloth bound cheese

modeled on a Doddington, a

variation of a Leicester. This cheese

was featured in the round-up article

on artisinal cheeses that appeared in

the April issue of Real Simple

Magazine. Jasper Hill is also rolling out a new washed rind cheese they

are calling Winnemere (named for a part of the Caspian Lake in

Greensboro where the farm is located). This cheese is washed with a

lambic style beer (open fermentation) brewed by harvesting the yeasts

from the Jasper Hill cheese cellar.

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Strolling of the Heifers June 2 – 5 Brattleboro, VT

One of Vermont’s “Top Ten SummerEvents”. Features a Dairy Fest andMarketplace Place on June 4,including cheese tasting.

For more information: ValerieStuart, Cell: 802-380-6202 Home:802-257-0249, toll free:VTSBEST(877-887-2378) or log on to:www.strollingoftheheifers.com .

Vermont Cheese Farmers Marketand Wine Tasting June 11, 2-5 pmSouth Hero, VT

Snow Farm Vineyard and VCC hostthis sampling of Vermont artisancheeses and wines on LakeChamplain. Contact: Snow FarmVineyard, (802) 372-9463,

snowfarm@compuserve.com,www.snowfarm.com Pasture to Palate: The Art ofCheesemakingSeptember 5-7Shelburne Farms, Shelburne, VT

Limited space; fee chargedTo register, call Hilary Sunderland orCaitlin Fay at 802-985-8498.

2005 Plymouth Cheese & HarvestFestivalSeptember 10, 10 am - 4 pmCalvin Coolidge Historic HomesteadPlymouth Notch, VTContact: Bill Jenney, 802-672-3773www.HistoricVermont.org

VCC-sponsored ReceptionFriday, July 22, 2005ACS Annual ConferenceLouisville, KY

The Vermont Cheese Council

Newsletter is published for

food professionals.

With written permission,

reprinting is encouraged.

Contact:

THE VERMONT

CHEESE COUNCIL

c/o Vermont Farm Bureau

2083 East Main Street,

Richmond VT 05477

866-261-8595

www.vtcheese.com

Calendar of Upcoming Events

NON-PROFIT ORGUS POSTAGE

PAIDPERMIT #101

RICHMOND VT

VERMONT FARM BUREAUVermont Cheese Council2083 East Main Street, Richmond VT 05477