Neighborly Farms Wins Big at Big E

"This is something you always hope for but never expect," exclaimed Linda Dimmick who, with husband Robert, owns Neighborly Farms. "After all, Grafton sells cheese they've been aging longer than we've been in business!" She refers to Grafton Village Cheddar who has been producing cheddar since 1892 and has won many prestigious awards.

But a cheese competition is a funny thing, it's about which cheese gets sent on which day to which judge and how they slept the night before and what they had for breakfast. "It's a fluky thing, it doesn't mean we make the best cheddar in the world, but it's an honor to even be considered on the same playing field as the big boys," admits cheesemaker Melissa Komorowski.

The "big boys" of course are the afore mentioned Grafton Village and Cabot, who each had cheeses tied for the Silver medal, and Cabot who also took the Bronze. The Cabot Coop has been producing cheese since 1930 and has won so many awards here and abroad that they can call themselves "Makers of the World's Best Cheddar." "It's just odd to think we are in competition with each other," points out cheesemaker David Goldsworthy, "It was just a few months ago that Rick Woods from Grafton visited the farm and gave us a bunch of pointers to help us improve our wheels." "And Clay Whitney of Cabot called to congratulate us the day the results were announced last week, in fact it didn't really sink in that we had won Best of Show until he called," added Dimmick.

Best in Show means that Neighborly Farms Organic Clothbound Raw Milk Cheddar not only won its category, but the judges also felt it was simply the best cheese at the show. And that is from dozens of highly skilled cheese makers from around New England.

So what is Clothbound Raw Milk Cheddar? It's cheddar the old-fashioned way--before vacuum sealing and pasteurization. The cheese is made in a wheel, wrapped in muslin instead of cheesecloth, and then aged in a "cave." For Neighborly Farms, that means sending the cheese to the Cellars at Jasper Hill in Greensboro, VT. How does it taste? According to cheesemaker Goldsworthy, "if the raw milk aspect adds a degree of complexity to the final cheese flavor, then aging it in a cave with all that funky stuff growing on it puts it head and shoulders above that! There is a whole spectrum of flavors, from rich cheddar to hints of earthiness and blue cheese. Every bite is a new experience."

Neighborly Farms of Vermont
1362 Curtis Road
Randolph Center, VT 05061
Phone: 802-728-4700 or toll free 1-888-212-6898
Website: www.neighborlyfarms.com
e-mail: cheese@neighborlyfarms.com