10 Vermont cheese farms

Newsday
By Sylvia Carter
March 28, 2008
Original Article Here

Vermont is not just Cheddar anymore. Many varieties are available at these and other farms on the cheese trail. Those made from raw milk are, by law, aged 60 days. All farms are on the vtcheese.com Web site but some have their own sites. Many creameries have observation windows so you can watch cheese being made. Some offer weekday tours, others are by appointment, so visit Web sites or call before you go.

1. Bonnieview Farm, 2228 South Albany Rd., Craftsbury Common (802-755-6878; vtcheese.com/members/bonnieview/bonnieview.htm). On a 470-acre hilltop farm, Neil Urie makes sheep's-milk cheese: subtly tangy natural-rind Ben Nevis, named for the highest mountain in Scotland, and Mossend Blue (named after Moss End, his family's ancestral farm in Scotland), and more.

2. Jasper Hill Farm, P.O. Box 272, Greensboro (802-533- 2566;jasperhillfarm.com). Mateo Kehler, his wife, Angie, his brother Andy and Andy's wife, Victoria, are busy constructing a 20,000- square-foot cave for aging their own cheeses and those from other makers, an art called affinage. Jasper Hill is not open for tours now, though it may be in the future. It is possible to buy their cheeses locally, however.

3. Shelburne Farms, 1611 Harbor Rd., Shelburne (802- 985-8686;shelburnefarms.org). This farm, about 1,500 acres on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, is run as a nonprofit. A herd of Brown Swiss cows supplies milk that goes into aged Cheddars. Muslin-wrapped Cheddar is coated with melted butter before aging, a traditional English method. The grounds were laid out in a curvaceous manner, restful to the eye, by Frederick Law Olmstead. Visitors are welcome at both the farm, which has miles of hiking trails, and the creamery and, in season, can stay at the farm. (Rooms are not heated.)

4.Vermont Butter & Cheese Co., 40 Pittman Rd., Websterville