Artisan Cheeses
Bleu Mont Dairy
Willi Lehner's bandaged cheddar is finished in Bleu Mont's new licensed straw dairy plant at Bleu Mont Dairy. The cheeses are aged on red cedar boards from Switzerland. You may also be able to buy a round of his new surface ripened havarti cheese.
Capri Organic Goat Cheeses
Capri cheese is handcrafted at a small organic family farm in the heart of Wisconsin's Driftless Area. The herd of registered Nubian goats receives superior care and the best feed: organically raised grains and hay. Felix makes superb fetas and a cave-aged "govarti" cheese.
Carr Valley Gran Canaria
With over 100 years of cheesemaking experience, Carr Valley Cheese Company continues to be a leader in artisan cheeses. Now fourth generation master cheesemaker, Sid Cook, continues to create prize-winning cheeses. Gran Canaria is the American Cheese Society's 2004 Best of Show cheese. Sid won 7 other first place prizes for his cheeses in various categories at the conference last year.
Crave Brothers Farmstead Classics Les Freres
The Crave brothers milk 600 Holstein cows on their rural Wisconsin dairy farm. Each cow produces 30,000 pounds of milk per year. They are fed homegrown, high quality forages consisting of corn, alfalfa and soybeans. The farm employs the latest technologies with an emphasis on conservation, while consideration is given to what is best for the environment, the cows and the consumer. Their pampered cows receive plenty of exercise, fresh air and individualized care.
Fantome Farms Chevre
Raising their own goats ensures Fantome Farm of a fresh milk supply for their handmade goat cheese. Fresh chevre, produced in the French tradition, has a shelf-life of just two weeks(although freezing works great!). After spending some time in France last year, Annie came home with wonderful ideas for affinaging her cheeses. Look for her Fleurie cheese rounds!
Hook's Blue Cheese
For 27 years, Tony and Julie Hook have together, and with just the labor of the two of them, owned and operated Hook's Cheese Company in Mineral Point, Wis. Although they only make cheese on Friday and sell it at the Dane County Farmer's Market on Saturdays, they are the winners of many County, State and International awards. Their aged cheddars are truly excellent cheeses.
Upland Cheese Pleasant Ridge Reserve
Using traditional methods no longer common today, Uplands Cheese Company produces cheeses similar to French gruyeres with matchless flavor and quality. Their cheeses, sold under the Pleasant Ridge Reserve label, have won several awards in recent years, including Best of Show at the American Cheese Society.
Widmer's washed rind aged brick
For three generations, Widmer's has been making this European-style washed rind aged brick cheese. They collect the milk in their own truck from 5 local dairy farmers and make the cheese by hand in small vats in their plant. The curds are packed into molds and weighted with bricks used by Joe Widmer's grandfather, then bathed in salt and aged on wooden shelves in a curing room. The cheeses are washed by hand daily as they cure.