Vermont Cheese Trail Map
Visit the Vermont Cheese Trail Map to plan your next excursion in Vermont.If you would like some printed copies, please send a request to info@vtcheese.com

Thank you retailers and other associate members for your support of the Vermont Cheese Council!

Billings Farm & Museum

Black River Produce

Brattleboro Food Coop

Castleton Crackers

Castleton Village Store

Cellars Group

Chees House

Cheese Traders &
Wine Sellers

City Feed and Supply

City Market

Daily Planet

Dairy Connection

Dakin Farm

Equinox Resort and Spa

Fairfield Cheese Co.

Hanover Coop

Harvest Market

Healthy Living Market

Hunger Mountain Coop

Lebanon Coop

Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op

Mountain Cheese and Wine

Mountain Greens Market

Newport Specialty Foods

Norma's Restuarant at Topnotch Resort

Peter Dixon Dairy Consulting

Provisions International

Ren Hen Cafe and Bakery

Rock Art Brewery


South Royalton Market

Stratton Mountain Provisions

Sugarbush Farm

Sweet Clover

Upper Valley Food Coop

Vermont Cheesemongers

Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese

Wasiks Cheese Shop

Wine and Cheese Depot

Woodstock Farmer's Market

Facebook

Become a fan of the Vermont Cheese Council on Facebook!

Visit our Facebook page.

Post a comment or a photo about your favorite Vermont cheese.

Follow the Vermont Cheese Council on twitter

Visit our cheese makers online.

Blue Ledge Farm

Blythedale Farm

Bonnieview Farm

Cabot Creamery

Champlain Valley Creamery

Cobb Hill Cheese

Consider Bardwell Farm

Crawford Family Farm

Crowley Cheese

Dancing Cow Farm

Does' Leap

Fat Toad Farm

Franklin Foods

Grafton Village Cheese

Hildene Farm Signature Cheese

Green Mountain Blue Cheese

Hope Farm

Jasper Hill Farm

Jericho Hill Farm

Lakes End Cheeses

Lazy Lady Farm

Maplebrook Farm

Mt. Mansfield Creamery

Neighborly Farms

Orb Weaver Farm

Peaked Mountain Farm

Ploughgate Creamery

Plymouth Artisan Cheese

Sage Farm

Scholten Family Farm

Shelburne Farms

Spring Brook Farm

Taylor Farm

Thistle Hill Farm

Twig Farm

Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery.

Vermont Shepherd

von Trapp Farmstead

Willow Hill Farm

West River Creamery

Woodcock Farm

Awards

World Championship Cheese Contest Results

Congratulations to the Vermont Cheeses that showed so well at the World Cheese Awards competition in March.

Vermonters walked away with praise and ribbons including three Best of Class! Listed alphabetically by company, the winners are:
 
Cabot Creamery Cooperative
Cottage Cheese: 4th
Sharp Cheddar: 5th
1-2 Year Cheddar: 5th
Mild Cheddar: 6th
Pepper Flavored American Style Cheeses: 7th (PepperJack)
Medium Cheddar: 9th
Salted Butter:10th
Unsalted Butter:10th

Cabot/The Cellars of Jasper Hill
Bandaged Sharp to Aged: Best of Class

Consider Bardwell Farm
Smear-Ripened Soft Cheese: 3rd (Dorset)
Semi Soft Goats Milk Cheese: tied for 5th (Manchester)
 
Franklin Foods
Flavored Soft & Semi Soft Mixed Milk Cheese: 3rd (Green Mountain Chevre Basil)
Spreadable Cheeses: 6th (Green Mountain Neufchatel)
Flavored Spreadable Cheeses: 9th (Green Mountain Farm Salsa Cream Cheese) &
10th (Green Mountain Farm Garlic & Herb Spreadable Cheese)

Lazy Lady Farm
Blue Veined Exterior Molding: 6th (Lady in Blue)

Spring Brook Farm
Smear-Ripened Semi-Soft Cheeses: Best of Class (Tarentaise)

Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery
Soft Goats Milk Cheese: Best of Class (Fresh Crotin) &
2nd (Chevre Classic) & 
8th (Crumbled Goat Cheese)
Open Class Soft Cheeses: 3rd (Quark) &
10th (Mascarpone)
Semi Soft Goats Milk Cheese: tied for 5th (Feta)
Surface Mold Ripened Goats Milk Cheese: 6th (Coupole)
Surface (Mold) Ripened Mixed Milk Cheese: 9th (Cremont)
Flavored Soft Goats Milk Cheese: 10th (Chevre Herb)
 
West River Creamery
Bandaged Mild to Medium: 10th (Clothbound English Cheddar)

For all winners, visit the World Championship Cheese Contest website.

Recipe of the Month

By Courtney Contos, Culinary Consultant
@ chefcontos.com

Baked Camembert with Walnut Pesto
Serves 8-10

4 garlic cloves, peeled
½ cup walnuts
2 cups cleaned fresh basil
2 tablespoons honey
½ cup freshly grated Romano cheese
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/3-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

2 Camembert cheeses (8 ounces each)

Grilled bread and cooked asparagus for serving

1. Preheat oven to 400º.
   
   
2. Place Camembert rounds into the freezer for 15 minutes. Then carefully cut the rind off the top of each cheese and discard it. Place onto a parchment lined sheet tray or into two smaller baking dishes used for serving. Set aside.
   
   
3. For the pesto place the garlic, nuts, basil, honey, and Romano cheese in a food processor and process to a course paste. Add the lemon zest, juice, and just enough olive oil to create a thick paste. Season with salt and pepper.
   
   
4. Spread half of the pesto over each cheese, mounding it in the center.
   
   
5. Place into middle of oven and cook the cheeses until the sides are lightly browned, the cheese starts to melt, and the top is bubbling, about 15 minutes. Transfer Camembert carefully to a platter (unless you baked in a presentation dish) and serve at once with grilled bread and asparagus.

Cheese News

SAVE THE DATE!
The 2nd Annual Vermont Cheesemaker’s Festival
July 25th, 2010
Shelburne Farms,
Shelburne, Vermont

Visit the website for tickets.
Order early, limited availability, last year sold out.

view a video of last year's cheese festival

Last year we had over 60 volunteers and will be looking for more this year. If you are interested in volunteering contact Hilary.

The Consider Bardwell Farm Café in West Pawlet is now open Saturdays and Sundays from 9AM to 2PM in the barn.Serving up scratch baked goods, soups, and of course cheese! Coffee, tea, and occasional live music.

 
Grafton Village Cheese Company will open the Specialty Cheese and Wine Shoppe in Grafton in late May, with a grand opening celebration July 3rd. The viewing windows into the cheese production facility in Grafton will continue to offer visitors the opportunity to watch the handcrafting of premium Vermont cheddar.  The former retail store, which was located next to the production facility, will become an educational space for visitors to learn about Grafton’s history of cheesemaking.

Keep Local Farms

Please help support this program that will in turn help support the Vermont cheesemaking community as well as many other farmers, the working landscape and the ability to produce farm products for our community. Read more

New Cheeses

Sage Farm Goat Dairy has released its first soft-ripened, bloomy-rinded cheeses of the season. Sterling is a typical Valencay-style cheese in a truncated pyramid shape with a light coating of ash.  Madonna is a small round disc of ripened chevre with a white bloomy rind. Both cheeses will be available through the summer and fall season. Be sure to check out their new website www.sagefarmgoatdairy.com

Shopping Tips
For Vermont Cheese

Retailers
Find a Vermont Cheese Council retailer near you!

On-line/Mail Order Sales
Grafton Village Cheese
Woodstock Farmers' Market
Castleton Village Store
Thistle Hill
Fat Toad Farm
Orb Weaver
Mt. Mansfield Creamery
Twig Farm
Shelburne Farms
Sugarbush Farm
Crowley Cheese
Cabot Creamery 

Other On-line Sites that Often Feature
and Carry Vermont Cheese
Murray's Cheese
Saxelby Cheese
Zingerman's
Cow Girl Creamery
Artisan Made Northeast
Culture: the world of cheese: a searchable, and extensive, directory of cheese retailers who handle farmstead, artisan, specialty cheeses, etc.

Events

May 2, 2010
Daily Planet in Burlington will be hosting a beer and cheese pairing dinner featuring Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery and Trout River Brewery. The price is $50 per person for 4 courses with beer tasting. For more information call 802-862-9647.

May 29 & 30, 2010, from 10am to 5pm
Billings Farm & Museum
Celebrates the 1st Annual Cows & Camembert Weekend 

Kicking off National Dairy Month in June with a celebration of Vermont’s dairy heritage, featuring Vermont cheese producers, showcasing the farms Jersey cows, judging Jerseys with the farm manager, cow trivia contest, making a cow pizza, and dairy education programs.

Lend a hand making chocolate ice cream, and enjoy animal programs, historic games, name the calf contest, and other hands-on activities.The operating dairy farm, farm life exhibits, and the restored and furnished farmhouse are included in the entrance fee.  Admission also includes our 25th annual commemorative spring button. For information, please contact the museum at 802-457-2355 or www.billingsfarm.org.

Shelburne Vineyards Cheese Pairing Series

April 27: Wine, Beer & Cheese Pairing with Jasper Hill

May 18: Wine and Cheese Pairing with Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery

May 25, The Perfect Dessert 

Contact Shelburne Vineyard for more information 802-985-8222.

Cheesemaking Classes

Artisan Cheesemaking Workshops at Consider Bardwell Farm in West Pawlet, Vermont. 
Two-day workshops in making and aging cheese on the farm, taught by Peter Dixon. Contact Peter Dixon at Tel. 802-387-4041 or email dixonpeter@mac.com
 

May 11-12, 2010 SOLD OUT
Cheesemaking and Affinage

June 8-9, 2010. Beginners Class Cheesemaking and starting an artisan cheese business. Topics include: starting up a creamery; properties of sheep, cow, and goat milk, and their use in cheese making; use of starter cultures and rennet: making lactic curd cheeses (Chevre) and Tomme from goat and cow milk; cheese brining; cheese ripening; and financial and marketing information.

July 6-7, 2010. Mediterranean Cheeses Two days of cheesemaking where class participants will make Feta, Mozzarella, Ricotta, and Corsican basket cheese from goat and cow milk. Topics include: properties of sheep, cow, and goat milk, and their use in cheese making; use of starter cultures and rennet; cheese brining; and cheese ripening.

August 17-18, 2010. Beginners Class Cheesemaking and starting an artisan cheese business. Topics include: starting up a creamery; properties of sheep, cow, and goat milk, and their use in cheese making; use of starter cultures and rennet: making lactic curd cheeses (Chevre) and Tomme from goat and cow milk; cheese brining; cheese ripening; and financial and marketing information.

September 7-8, 2010. Cheesemaking & Affinage Techniques, microbes and facilities. Exploring the craft of cheese making and ripening. On day one we will make a tomme cheese. On day two we will follow the steps for ripening this cheese and many others. The focus will be on ripening cultures, bio-reactions, affinage techniques, quality control, and how to design and construct facilities for ripening many types of cheese.

Learn more about these classes...

The Vermont Institute For Artisan Cheese Classes

April 20, 2010
Risk Reduction Practices for Cheesemakers
Risk assessment is a technique used to achieve food safety based on the principles of hazard identification, exposure assessment and risk characterization. Using VIAC data collected from microbiological surveillance of farmstead cheesemaking operations, we will review specific microbial pathogens of concern to farmstead cheesemakers, and their incidence in milk and the cheesemaking environment.

April 21, 2010
Cheese Defects: Origins and Troubleshooting
Provides comprehensive knowledge of cheese defects and troubleshooting techniques to improve cheese quality.

April 22 - 23, 2010
Affinage: Behind the Scenes
This two day course will demystify the process of aging cheese.

May 3 - 5, 2010
Essential Principles and Practices of Cheesemaking
3-day course on the fundamentals of cheesemaking and quality control.

May 6, 2010
Hygiene and Food Safety in Cheesemaking
Explore hazards of a biological nature which are capable of causing food borne illnesses if present in cheese

May 7, 2010
Quality and Chemistry of Milk
Learn how characteristics of raw milk affect the manufacture and quality of the final cheese

May 24 - 26, 2010
SUMMER CHEESE SCHOOL
Essential Principles and Practices of Cheesemaking
3-day course on the fundamentals of cheesemaking and quality control.

May 27, 2010
Hygiene and Food Safety in Cheesemaking
Explore hazards of a biological nature which are capable of causing food borne illnesses if present in cheese

May 28, 2010
Quality and Chemistry of Milk
Learn how characteristics of raw milk affect the manufacture and quality of the final cheese

See their website for many more classes

The Fairfield Cheese Company has an extensive Spring 2010 schedule at their Cheese School in Connecticut, visit their website for a complete listing.

As a Friend of the Vermont Cheese Council, we welcome your donations to assist us with our endeavors to improve the production and advancement of Vermont cheese. Your generous support helps us to continue to grow and expand our technical support for members, while providing you with delicious Vermont cheese. Learn more about the benefits of becoming a friend of the Council or sign up now!

As an Associate Member of the Vermont Cheese Council, we welcome all industry related businesses and individuals who see the value in having a strong cheese industry in Vermont. Learn more about the benefits of an Associate Membership on our web site.

For more information, you may contact our main office at: 866-261-8595 or visit www.vtcheese.com

This newsletter can also be viewed on our website.