Cobblestone Red

cheeseunderground

15 years ago

While food science students at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Falcon Foods Dairy Plant have crafted cheese and sold it on campus for years, Faculty Associate Ranee May and one of her experiential dairy processing learning classes have spent the past two years developing a signature artisan cheese they hope to distribute nationwide.

Cobblestone Red, a creamy, semi-soft cheese made with local Chateau St. Croix’s Chateau Rogue wine, has been selling briskly on campus and at trade shows, May said. The wine’s blend of currants, black cherries and vanilla comes through nicely in the American Original, a cross between a cheddar and a jack.

“It’s a taste that people get excited about,” May told me yesterday at World Dairy Expo in Madison.

The Cobblestone Red is available in one-pound half wheels for $7 and can be purchased at the Falcon Foods store at the UW River Falls campus. May is currently working with distributors to launch the cheese into state, regional and national retail markets. In addition, the cheese will soon be available via mail order on the web.