10 Vermont cheese farms

By Sylvia Carter

March 28, 2008

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 (802-479-9371;vtbutterandcheeseco.com). Adeline Folley, operations manager, oversees all cheese-making, and Bonne-Bouche reflects her native France; it is a small, ash-ripened goat cheese, runny inside when ready to eat. Coupole, a snowy, soft cheese is, at its center, "like having a fresh glass of milk," Folley said proudly. Fresh cultured butter (some of it salted with sea salt), crème fraîche and mascarpone are peak taste experiences, too.

5. Neighborly Farms of Vermont, 1362 Curtis Rd., Randolph Center (802-728-4700;neighborlyfarms.com). Linda and Rob Dimmick milk organically certified Holstein cows and Linda makes a variety of cheeses, including aged Cheddar, Colby and Monterey Jack. The family owns and operates a sugarhouse and produces maple syrup in season.

6. Vermont Water Buffalo Co., 2749 Church Hill Rd., South Woodstock (802-457- 4540), comprises 250 acres that are home to a herd of water buffalo. Products include hand-stretched mozzarella and naturally thick, creamy yogurt. To protect the animals from disease, guests are asked not to enter the barns, but you will be able to glimpse the buffalo, basking in heated stalls.

7. Frog City Cheese, President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site, 106 Messer Hill Rd., Plymouth Notch, (802- 672-3650;frogcitycheese.com). Granular-curd cheeses, sold under the name Plymouth Cheese, are made from raw Jersey milk by Tom Gilbert and sold on the premises. Seasoned cheeses include sage, caraway, garlic and rosemary. They also sell cider syrup and boiled cider, used as pancake syrup (made by Willis Wood in Springfield, woodcidermill .com).

8.Woodcock Farm Cheese Co., 30 Woodcock Lane, Weston (802-824-6135;vtcheese.com/vtcheese /woodcock/woodcock.html). Gari and Mark Fischer make some cow's-milk cheese and also cheese from the milk of their East Fresian sheep, herded by a Great Pyrenees named Lucy and other working dogs. Among the selection are a lush bloomy-rind Camembert-style cheese called Summer Snow, for the season when it is produced, and pleasantly tangy Weston Wheel with a natural rind.

9.Taylor Farm, 825 Rte. 11, Londonderry (802-824-5690;taylorfarmvermont.com). I happened in when Mimi Wright, sister of owner and cheese-maker Jon Wright, was pulling warm apple pies out of the oven, so they almost upstaged the Gouda-style cheese, made in small batches from raw Holstein and Jersey milk. Maple-smoked Gouda would be perfect with a slice of pie. Fresh eggs from Hannah's Happy Hens, whose bios are posted, also are sold at the retail space.

10. Grafton Village Cheese Co., Grafton Village (800-472- 3866;graftonvillagecheese com). The cheese-making concern was founded as a cooperative in 1892. In 1960, the Windham Foundation purchased much of the historic village, including the Old Tavern Inn at Grafton and a farm where Cheddar cheese was being made. Cheddars made from Jersey milk under the direction of Scott Fletcher are aged 2 to 6 years. Older cheeses have great depth and set a standard.