THE STORY
The Kehler family started Jasper Hill Farm in 2003 – the genesis of their effort to find meaningful work in a place they love. Their connection to the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont evolved from generations of their family visiting and living in Greensboro – a sleepy village on the edge of sparkling, secluded Caspian Lake.
The verdant agricultural landscape of the area is at the core of its economic and cultural identity, typified by the small-scale family dairy farm. Unfortunately, today’s ever-increasing need to preserve agricultural soils and Vermont’s working landscape is likewise punctuated by the dairy farms’ struggle to compete with a national, commodity scale market. Jasper Hill Farm was imagined as a ‘value-added’ strategy for earning a dependable and fair return on high-quality milk – a model for small-scale profitability.
The Kehlers quickly found that their achievement in finding meaningful work revealed a score of new challenges particular to the farmstead cheesemaker. The most burdensome tasks at Jasper Hill turned up after the vat – cave work, sales administration and travel, packaging and shipping logistics – all crucial, though intensely time- consuming. Cellars at Jasper Hill is a piece of infrastructure they designed to help farms reach and succeed in a national marketplace: a bridge between small-scale production and large scale markets.
The building itself is a network of seven underground vaults – a total of 22,000 square feet nestled beneath the pastures where Jasper Hill’s forty Ayrshire cows graze. Each cave rests at distinct temperature and humidity levels, calibrated for different cheese styles. Developing wheels undergo a customized testing, tasting and affinage schedule before getting wrapped-up when the perfect balance of flavors and texture are achieved.
By offering a collection of professionally aged and marketed cheeses, Cellars at Jasper Hill allows its producers to focus on the most important aspects of their trade – quality milk production and cheesemaking technique. This focus on precision and specialization is the foundation of the Cellars aim to be the standard bearer for quality and innovation in the artisan cheese industry.
LOCATION
Jasper Hill Farm
Mateo and Andy Kehler
884 Garvin Hill Rd.
Greensboro Bend, Vermont 05842
802-533-2566
info@jasperhillfarm.com
OUR PRODUCTS
Conundrum
THE CONUNDRUM PROJECT provides a flexible space for us to involve key retailers and chefs in the product development process. It is the name we give to any cheese that is delicious and interesting but not yet a permanent part of our collection. Conundrum will take many shapes over the years, but it will always be our effort to gather feedback from cheese professionals and share one-of-a-kind batches with our most engaged customers.
For information on the latest Conundrum cheese & where to purchase, click here.
Alpha Tolman
Alpine cheeses like Appenzeller inspire the recipe for this Jasper Hill Creamery original. Alpha Tolman has a buttery, fruit & nut flavor when young, developing bold meaty, caramelized onion flavors as it matures. The texture is dense and pliant, easily portioned and ideal for melting.
For more information on where to purchase, click here.
Willoughby
This succulent and buttery washed-rind cheese has aromas of peat, roasted beef and onions – a strong and complex front for the subtle milky, herbal, ripe-peach flavors within. Willoughby has a thin, tender, rosy-orange rind, which adds earthy dimension to the texture and flavors of the gooey interior.
For more information on where to purchase, click here.
Harbison
Harbison is a soft-ripened cheese with a rustic, bloomy rind. Young cheeses are wrapped in strips of spruce cambium, the tree’s inner bark layer, harvested from the woodlands of Jasper Hill. The spoonable texture begins to develop in our vaults, though the paste continues to soften on the way to market. Harbison is woodsy and sweet, balanced with lemon, mustard, and vegetal flavors.
For more information on where to purchase, click here.
Winnimere
Seasonal – Washed-rind, raw winter’s milk cheese wrapped in spruce bark. Non-GMO project verified
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Moses Sleeper
Moses is an approachable and nuanced brie-style cheese. Beneath its thin, bloomy rind lies a gooey, milky core showing a complex array of flavors at peak ripeness: cauliflower, crème fraîche, and toasted nuts. A bright, clean finish with a hint of white mushroom aroma follows the rich flavors of the paste.
For more information on where to purchase, click here.
Constant Bliss
A soft, lactic-set, mold-ripened, pasteurized milk cheese.
For more information on where to purchase, click here.
Bayley Hazen Blue
Bayley has developed a loyal following because of its fudge-like texture, toasted-nut sweetness, and anise spice character. The paste is dense and creamy, with well-distributed blue veins. The usual peppery character of blue cheese is subdued, giving way to the grassy, nutty flavors in the milk. A natural-rinded, raw milk cheese.