Cheese + Champagne

cheese class – “lovely locals”

“lovely locals” class

1 – merry goat round (goat), firefly farms, bittenger md
goats milk brie, chalky center, squishy around edges
2 – monocacy silver (goat), cherry glen farm, boyds md
gooey, tangy
*3 – ash chevre log (goat), pipe dreams, greencastle pa
firm, softens in mouth, lightly earthy
4 – goat with green peppercorns (goat), coach farm, ferndale ny
firm, green peppercorns add fruitiness
*5 – everona cracked pepper (raw sheep), everona dairy, rapidan va
spicy & rich (& $$)
6 – keswick creamery lesher (raw cow), keswick creamery, newburg pa
subtle & creamy, farm of just 40 jersey cows, good with bread & fruit
7 – appalachian spring (raw sheep), locust grove farm, knoxville tn
Gouda-type cheese, squeaky
*8 – pennsylvania noble cheddar (organic raw cow), green valley dairy, kirkwood pa
Amish, completely hand made (hand milked cows), aged 3-4 mos (young for cheddar), creamy & lots of fresh farm flavor
9 – kenny’s farmhouse horseradish cheddar (raw cow), kenny’s farmhouse cheese, austin ky
rich with fresh horseradish kick
10 – grayson (raw cow), meadow creek dairy, galax va
stinky! washed in salt water, pungent & creamy

* = my favorites

On our way back from the Oregon coast, we visited Rivers Edge Chevre, a tiny goat dairy that was having their second anniversary wine & cheese festival. The farm was in a beautiful valley in the coast range.  They recently won several awards at this year’s American Cheese Society Competition.  The cheese was phenomenal – the winery (Madrone Mountain) had port-style wines that were a little sweet for my taste. But the cheeses… yum.  They had goat cheese tortes with flavors like olive tapenade, sun-dried tomato pesto, basil pesto, and roasted hazelnut & frangelico which was the kid’s favorite. (I had to cut him off for fear of him getting drunk off cheese ;-).) I really enjoyed the Sunset Bay, “an ash-coated wheel with a deep vein of paprika.”

And the little herd of friendly goats kept the kid and his cousin well entertained.