Vermont Cheese Council e-News December 2008

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