Vermont Cheese Council e-Newsletter Volume 1, Issue 1, December 2008
Welcome to the
Vermont Cheese Council
e-News

The story behind every Vermont cheese goes beyond the beautiful label, the high quality milk, the professional techniques and the micro flora that permeates the natural rinds of the cave ripened cheese. The Vermont Cheese Council established in 1997 is dedicated to our cheese making members who produce and market premier cheese from Vermont. We have seen our membership grow from 10 to close to 40 cheese makers over the past thirteen years, with three new cheese makers joining us in the past year.  We warmly welcome Jericho Hill Farm Ploughgate Creamery, Spring Brook Farm, and Fat Toad Farm to our membership

Be sure to visit the Vermont Cheese Trail and discover all of our exciting cheeses made by members of the Vermont Cheese Council. For more information, you may contact our main office at: (866) 261-8595 or info@vtcheese.com


Cheese makes a wonderful holiday gift. Many of our members sell their cheese  through their web site. Visit our cheesemakers 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

Frog City Cheese

Grafton Village Cheese

Green Mountain Blue Cheese

Hope Farm

Jasper Hill Farm

Jericho Hill Farm

Lakes End Cheeses

Lazy Lady Farm

Maplebrook Farm

Neighborly Farms

Orb Weaver Farm

Peaked Mountain Farm

Shelburne Farms

Spring Brook Farm

Taylor Farm

Thistle Hill Farm

Three Owls Sheep Dairy

Twig Farm

Vermont Butter & Cheese Co.

Vermont Shepherd

Vermont Water Buffalo

Willow Hill Farm

West River Creamery

Woodcock Farm

New Vermont Cheeses
Introduced in 2008

With over 150 cheeses collectively produced in Vermont, we're proud to share new cheeses that were introduced in 2008 by our members: Spring Brook Farm Tarentaise is based on the popular traditional alpine cheese recipe created at Thistle Hill Farm, and produced under the tutelage of John and Janine Putnam; Vt. Butter and Cheese introduced a cultured butter with sea salt crystals, made in small batches using pure Vermont cream. Jericho Hill Farm has a new Pepper Jack and Jericho Hill Farm Smoked Jack cheeses.  Grafton Village Cheese Co. developed Grafton Duet, which pairs Grafton Premium and St. Pete’s Blue Cheese. Willow Hill Farm, winner of an international award at the most recent World Cheese Awards in Ireland in October, introduced 'Butternut' a cow's milk Alpine Style cheese and 'Vaquero Blue' (Vaquero is a Spanish cowboy) which is a creamy cow and sheep blended blue cheese. Both are aged in their own cave.

We're proud that so many of our members have received prestigious awards from the American Cheese Society, the World Cheese Awards, and the Big E among others. To catch up on the Vermont Cheese Council member news in more detail, be sure to see the archives of our print newsletters on our website.

2009 Events

This past year, members of the Vermont Cheese Council participated in a number of events throughout Vermont including the Stowe Wine and Food Classic, the Vermont Life Wine & Harvest Festival, the Vermont Brew Fest, and the Vermont Fresh Network Annual Forum as well as farmers markets throughout Vermont. We plan to participate again next year and hope to see you there.

Our key words for 2009 will be "education" and "collaboration" as we launch into the new year with plans to offer a series of educational tasting and dinner events throughout the state, collaborating with the Vermont Fresh Network chefs and restaurants. Learn about the art and science of Vermont artisan and farmstead cheeses and meet the cheese makers to learn more about the story of their farms. For chefs and restaurants, we'll offer training for your wait staff on setting up the ideal cheese board and tips on where to find the best cheese in your region.

We're currently building our events calendar and receiving queries from chefs and restaurants to launch our new initiative, which will be a fundraiser for the Vermont Cheese Council's scholarship fund.
 
If would like to learn more about how to build a collaborative event with the Vermont Cheese Council, please contact Ellen@ellenogden.com or call 866. 261. 8595. Be sure to check back with our calendar of events starting January 2009 for a list of dinner events.


Mark Your Calendars

Our First Annual Vermont Cheesemakers Festival will be held on Saturday, August 23 2009, at the Coach Barn at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne, Vermont, celebrating what many call the Napa Valley of cheese. Vermont has grown from a dairy state to the premium Artisan cheese state, with the highest cheese makers per capita.

This event was conceived by Allison Hooper of Vermont Butter and Cheese in partnership with fhe Vermont Institute of Artisan Cheese and the Vermont Cheese Council and will feature educational seminars, cooking demonstrations and cheese making demonstrations. Mark your calendar and stay tuned for more info.


Learn to Make Cheese:
Vermont Institute of Artisan Cheese

Interested in learning how to make cheese? Ready to brush up on your technical skills? The Vermont Institute of Artisan Cheese  (also known as VIAC) provides education, technical support, and sensory evaluation to increase knowledge and expansion of artisan cheese.

Please visit their website for upcoming classes. Reminder to all Vermont Cheese Council cheese making members: you are eligible to receive discounts on classes, so take advantage of this special offer. www.uvm.edu/viac


Join the Vermont Cheese Council as a friend:

We welcome your donations to the Vermont Cheese Council, dedicated to the production and advancement of Vermont cheese. As a Friend of the Vermont Cheese Council or Associate Company Member , you will receive our new Vermont Cheese Council map and brochure, a semi-annual newsletter, and stay updated with our monthly e-newsletter. Sign up now!

Your generous support helps us to continue to grow and expand our techincal support for members, while providing you with delicious Vermont cheese.

Be sure to visit the Vermont Cheese Trail and discover all of our exciting cheeses made by members of the Vermont Cheese Council. For more information, you may contact our main office at: (866) 261-8595 or vtcheese.com
 
This newsletter can also be viewed on our website.