Cheese! As you may know, I love cheese. I like to make it (although I’m bad at it) and I like to eat it. I’ve been keeping my ears open for cheese events and I just returned from a good one near Burlington, VT.
Last weekend the mlw, Lauren, and I took a bus trip via Murray’s Cheese (http://www.murrayscheese.com) to Vermont for a cheesemakers festival. We savored every bit of the cheese, wine, and scenery that Vermont had to offer.
On Saturday we toured the Vermont Butter and Cheese Company (http://www.vermontcreamery.com), a pioneer in US artisanal cheese making. I got to chat with cheese legend, Allison Hooper, a 25 year veteran of the industry who famously said that Vermont could be the Napa Valley of cheese. That evening we were treated to a BBQ, music, and wine at Shelburne Vineyard (http://www.shelburnevineyard.com). People in VT are very laid back and they know all the other people in VT.
The next day we went to the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival (http://www.vtcheesefest.com) at the picturesque Shelburne Farms (http://www.shelburnefarms.org). We grazed on cheese and wine all day amid a nice herd of cows grazing on very green grass. Needless to say, it was an amazing day.
There were too many cheeses, wines, and foods to note, but here are a few we liked:
* Vermont Butter & Cheese Company's Cremont
* Vermont Pickle Hot Carrot Pickles
* Cricket Creek Farm Maggie's Round (washed rind, raw milk)
* Spring Brook Farm Tarentaise
* Honara's Cabernet
* Hildene Havarti
Click picture to enlarge - Original photo set hosted at Flickr.
