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I had the privilege of being invited to speak at the Sonoma Valley Cheese Conference last week (or as I affectionately like to call it: the annual Sheana Davis Shindig), giving tips to artisan cheesemakers on how to increase media exposure and drive sales (it’s always a surprise that anyone might think I’m an expert on either).

Three days and at least a dozen new friends later, I’m back in snowy Wisconsin, carrying with me a renewed spirit that we when celebrate each other, we all win.

I don’t know about you, but I’m really sick of the California vs. Wisconsin dairy story, or as the media likes to portray it: Big vs. Small … Evil Incarnate vs. Virtual Goodness … Happy Cows vs. Blustery Bovines … California Dairy Princess vs. Alice in Dairyland (well except for that last one, either Wisconsin or California could be portrayed as either side).

And while the media seems intent on pointing out the differences between our industries, all I tend to see are the similarities. We both have a growing number of farmstead dairies and artisan cheesemakers, more medium-sized plants converting to specialty cheeses, and a dwindling number of automated giants trying to eke out a living on penny-a-pound-barrel-cheddar-and-commodity-mozzarella.

Just as Wisconsin’s artisan and specialty cheese communities have enjoyed some amazing national and regional media coverage during the last few years, so too are California cheesemakers. In fact, a great article by Robert Digitale was published just today in the Press Democrat. The story opens with this statement: “A decade ago, the New York Times heralded the emergence of the region’s artisan cheese makers, calling Sonoma and Marin counties ‘a new Normandy, north of the Golden Gate.’ Since then, the industry has come of age, adding new companies, adding conferences and festivals and further bolstering the region’s reputation as a place that produces fine food as well as fine wine.”

The article goes on to talk with several cheesemakers I had the honor of visiting with last week, including farmstead cheesemaker Karen Bianchi-Moreda of Valley Ford Cheese. Her farm’s 440 Jersey cows provide the milk to make Estero Gold, one of the best new American artisan cheeses launched last year. The operation is a family partnership, including her brother Steve Bianchi, her father Paul Bianchi and now her son, Joe Moreda, a recent college graduate. “You’re going to see more diversification from all dairy families,” Bianchi-Moreda told the Press Democrat. “Making cheese and other value-added dairy products will attract those families that want to somehow stay on the farm.”

Hmmm … kind of sounds similar to Wisconsin, doesn’t it? Value-added? Staying on the farm? Diversification? I can think of a half dozen Wisconsin farmstead cheesemakers, all of whom have started up in the last 10 years for exactly those same reasons.

And interestingly enough, the Press Democrat reporter decided to interview a Wisconsin dairy spokesperson, perhaps, in expectation of a negative California vs. Wisconsin sound bite. But what he got was far different. Marilyn Wilkinson, of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board — who I’ve witnessed to be much more of a similarity-celebrator than a difference-divider, said: “It’s really been a terrific renaissance in small-batch, high-quality cheeses throughout the country in the last few years.”

Amen, Sister. Let’s put this Us vs. Them slug fest to bed and instead start working together.

The more opportunity one has to travel around the country, the more similarities one sees among cheesemakers, no matter where they live. An early morning tour of Vella Cheese Company in Sonoma last week with Minnesota native and head cheesemaker Roger Ranniker (alas, Ig Vella’s aging health no longer allows him inside the make room), proves that crafting small-batch, high quality cheese is pretty similar, no matter where it’s made.

As Roger, who’s been making cheese at Vella’s for 24 years, points out: “There’s basically only a dozen different steps for getting a different kind of cheese: you’ve got your milk, your starter culture, the size you cut the curd, the temperature you cook the curd, the temperature you rinse the curd, how you shape it, how you salt it and how you age it. Bam. You can get a hundred different cheeses by altering any one of those steps.”

One of the best cheeses Vella Cheese makes from its own sequence of those steps is of course its famous Dry Jack. Behind the historic stone building (originally a brewery, but converted to a creamery by the Vella family in 1931) is what appears to be a long, green, wooden storage shed sporting a series of doors with numbers ranging from 1 to 9. Inside each door, however, is a different, tiny aging room, with its own climate control, each peacefully aging hundreds of wheels of cheese on wooden racks.

And as I, a Wisconsin girl, dedicated to promoting Wisconsin cheese, walked up and down those rows – inside a California cheese plant, housing California cheese, made by a Minnesota man who is now a California cheesemaker – it occurred to me that the sweet and nutty smells that come with aging cheese are not state specific. Good cheese is good cheese, no matter where it is made. And the more we start to celebrate the success of our neighbors, the better the American artisanal cheese community will grow. That’s good for everybody, no mater whether you live in California or Wisconsin.

Here in Wisconsin, we set a plethora of records this past week.

Want to make artisan cheese in Wisconsin? Here’s your chance.

For the second year in a row, Wisconsin Cheese Originals is offering a $2,500 scholarship to help one aspiring cheesemaker earn his or her Wisconsin Cheesemaker’s License and make farmstead, artisan or specialty cheeses.

Applicants must be a Wisconsin resident and be willing to undergo the rigorous pursuit that obtaining a Wisconsin Cheesemaker License requires. (The process can easily take 18 months or more, requires the attendance at five university courses, as well as 240 hours of apprenticeship with an existing Wisconsin cheesemaker).

Whew. Makes me tired just thinking about it.

The scholarship money may be used for course tuition fees, room & board, or associated costs with obtaining a Wisconsin Cheesemaker License. The application is due to Wisconsin Cheese Originals before 5 p.m. on March 7, with the recipient chosen by a review committee and notified by April 1. More information and scholarship applications may be downloaded here.

Last year’s Wisconsin Cheese Originals scholarship recipient, Katie Hedrich (pictured above), is currently working with her family to produce farmstead goat cheeses. Read about her family’s journey and the difference the scholarship made in her life in this recent Wisconsin State Farmer article.

Katie is also one of 12 different Wisconsin cheesemakers pictured on sets of note cards also offered by Wisconsin Cheese Originals. Featuring photography by Becca Dilley, boxed note card gift sets are available in sets of 6, with matching envelopes and a gold tie. Themes include:

•  Farmstead Cheesemakers – featuring the likes of Andy Hatch (Uplands Cheese), Jerry Heimerl (Saxon Homestead Creamery) & Brenda Jensen (Hidden Springs Creamery) 
• Rise of the Woman Cheesemaker – includes Katie Hedrich (Scholarship winner) Diana Murphy (Dreamfarm) & Brenda Jensen 
• Master Cheesemakers – featuring Joe Widmer (Widmer’s Cheese Cellars), Bruce Workman (Edelweiss Creamery) & Sid Cook (Carr Valley Cheese).
• Cave-Aging Masters – includes Willi Lehner (Bleu Mont Dairy), Chris Roelli (Roelli Cheese) & Gianni Toffolon (BelGioioso Cheese)
• On-the Farm with Cows, Sheep & Baby Goats – picturing Jerry Heimerl (with the cows at Saxon Homestead Farm), Katie Hedrich (with a baby goat at her family’s LaClare Farm) & Brenda Jensen (taking care of her ladies (ewes) at Hidden Springs Creamery).
• Kings of Stinky Cheese – includes Myron Olson (with his Limburger at Chalet Cheese), Joe Widmer (with his Brick) & Willi Lehner (creator of the one and only Earth Schmear)

Notecards include written cheesemaker profiles on the back and are blank inside. Each set of six cards & envelopes sells for $5.95. Check them out here. Makes a great gift! (along with a box of Wisconsin cheese, of course).

Tired of cutting coupons and pinching pennies? It’s time to kick this recession to the curb and treat yourself at your favorite cut-to-order cheese shop. Buying just one-quarter pound of a good artisan cheese and snacking on it all week can put anyone in a better mood.  Here are five Wisconsin artisan cheeses worth the splurge.

1. Marieke Aged Gouda: this cow’s milk farmstead Gouda is aged between 1-2 years on wooden planks at Holland’s Family Farm in Thorp, Wis. It’s so good, Cheesemaker Marieke Penterman has a hard time keeping it in stock. So when you do find it, buy it. No matter the price. Because one bite of that nutty, crystalized, sweet caramel delight is going to be worth whatever you paid. 

2. Hidden Springs Creamery’s Farmstead Feta: if you’ve only ever had the pleasure of eating cow’s milk Feta, than Cheesemaker Brenda Jensen’s sheep’s milk Feta is going to rock your world. If you’re lucky, you’ll find it in bulk at cut-to-order shops, others carry it pre-packaged in small tubs. No matter the size, prepare thyself for sticker shock and buy it anyway. Lighter and less-salty than cow’s milk Feta, it is completely void of calories. Well, at least you’ll keep telling yourself this when you can’t stop eating it.

3. Hook’s 15-Year Cheddar: at between $50 – $60 a pound, this is easily the most expensive Wisconsin cheese on the market today. Remember, however, you only need a quarter pound to appreciate this aged cheddar’s nutty, savory crystals. Buy a chunk and share it with friends. Nothing warms up a long winter evening faster than good cheese and good company.

4. Dunbarton Blue by Roelli Cheese: this Wisconsin Original has put cheesemaker Chris Roelli on the map in a hurry, with good reason. An earthy flavored Cheddar with just a hint of blue mold bloom, Dunbarton Blue is open-air cured on wooden shelves, producing a rich and unique flavor. Rumor has it that Chris may be breaking ground on a new, underground cave this spring, allowing for expanded production and aging of this blue beauty. Bring it on!

5. Cesar’s Queso Oaxaca: never thought you’d find a string cheese worth $12 a pound? Think again. This hand-stretched mozzarella is made weekly in micro batches by cheesemaker Cesar Luis at Sassy Cow Creamery near Columbus. Sold in bundles of between 6-12 sticks, Cesar’s Queso Oaxaca is squeaky fresh and super stringy. It’s the perfect afternoon pick-me-up. I’m even eating some while writing this, because it’s yummy and multi-task friendly.Worth every penny, and then some.


Still searching for a good cut-to-order cheese shop near you? See my list of favorites here on my blog – scroll down and look to the right under “Favorite Cheese Shops.”

At a conference last week discussing how to differentiate Wisconsin cheese through “taste of place” (the U.S. version of French “terroir”), I heard quite possibly the best description that could ever be given to a cheesemaker.

Bacteria farmer.

The title rolled off the tongue of Ivan Larcher, a French cheesemaker and consultant, who via Skype from France, provided a 45-minute talk encouraging raw milk cheesemakers interested in crafting cheeses that reflect the flavors of their farms to also start cultivating their own starter cultures.

“Every farm is a unique microbial ecosystem, evolving with seasons and agricultural activity,” Larcher says. “If you pasteurize the milk, you destroy the bacteria and then you have to work harder to recover the flavor. So I encourage you to think of yourself as a bacteria farmer – concentrate on farming your bacteria just as much as farming your land.”

In Wisconsin, the majority of cheesemakers purchase starter cultures from commercial “culture houses” – think of it as a mail-order catalog where if you want to make Cheddar, you buy a starter culture for Cheddar, or if you want to make Swiss, you buy a starter culture for Swiss. But in Europe, many cheesemakers have cultivated their own starter cultures, using bacteria from their own land, and have then passed these starter cultures down through generations of cheesemakers (similar to the starter cultures used to make sourdough bread).

Larcher’s talk was just one of several fascinating points of the half-day conference, which encouraged Wisconsin cheesemakers to start thinking about how they might start to market their cheese as “taste of place” – particularly those in the Driftless region (encompassing the non-glaciated one-third of southern and western Wisconsin that is home to rolling hills, limestone-filtered water and sweet soils).

The conference highlight was hearing from Gigi Cazaux, who has been working with Wisconsin raw milk cheesemakers for the past year. Her Master Degree’s thesis on the subject of whether Wisconsin raw milk cheese may constitute its own brand of “terroir”, is due to be completed by the end of the month.

Gigi gave some tantalizing sneak peaks into what her research will reveal. For example, she surveyed 22 cheesemakers in Wisconsin who produce raw milk cheeses and learned that 16 of them live in the Driftless region. Of those 16 cheesemakers, 15 use milk directly from farms that rotationally-graze their cows, which means the majority of raw milk cheese being made in the state is also grass-based. And, of those 15 cheesemakers, 14 have all the stages of production in their immediate area, including the milk source, creamery, and aging cellar.

Having so many cheesemakers in one distinct region of Wisconsin, all using grass-based milk, may provide an avenue for these cheese companies to consider marketing their product as a “taste of place” product, similar to an AOC-accredited cheese from France, Cazaux says.

“Cheese in Wisconsin is an iconic and cultural object, an authentic element of the state heritage that brings people together, Cazaux said. “You have the heritage – more than 160 years of cheesemaking in the state – as well as the marketing capacity to make it happen. I think this is potentially a very exciting project for the cheesemakers of Wisconsin.”

Coming from a long line of non-dog lovers (I may be the only farm kid ever to have grown up without a dog), I suppose it’s not surprising that I’ve never really been fond of man’s best friend. But that’s before I started hanging out with farmstead cheesemakers.

On this particular walk, Oliver and Diana were walking around their “country block,” which encircles lots of rural area. This time, Oliver disappeared and did not come back.

Diana’s dog Oliver is not the only super-friendly farmstead cheese dog in Wisconsin. If you’re looking for a little affection, Buddy at Holland’s Family Farm in Thorp will gladly attack you with kisses. Buddy, a black mix, will be one year old in March. With five kids, a farmstead Gouda cheese plant, and dairy farm to run, cheesemaker/owner Marieke Penterman readily admits she doesn’t have much time for training a new dog. But what Buddy lacks in manners, he makes up for with love.

Like the rest of the Pentermans, Buddy also likes the farm’s Marieke Foenegreek cheese. At the end of last year, Marieke ran low on inventory and her kids were complaining about not being able to eat their own cheese. So Marieke went to a store that had some for sale, bought a chunk and took it home for the family (you know your cheese is good when you have to buy it back yourself). She cut up some slices on a plate, let daughter Luna take it into the living room for everyone to share, and in just a moment, Buddy snuck up, claimed the cheese for himself, and promptly ate it in one gulp.

Another cheese-loving dog is Augustus Burdock Jensen, the six-month old Airdale pup at Hidden Springs Creamery near Westby. Owner/cheesemaker Brenda Jensen says the dog eats everything. This past fall, when the Jensens were having a new sheep parlor built (they are increasing their flock, which means more milk, which means more cheese – whoo-hoo!), Gus would continually pull the same prank on the construction crew. They would open up their can of soda and Gus would steal it -no matter it if it was full or empty. Brenda would find the can in the yard in small shreds. She says Mountain Dew is his favorite.

While Gus may enjoy his soda, there is one thing on the farm that does not enjoy him: the sheep assigned to the pup to guard.

A new Wisconsin original cheese is a perfect example of what happens when you pair exceptional milk with exceptional cheesemaking.

Last week, I kicked off a Cheese Limerick contest, with the invitation that the only thing more fun than eating cheese is writing about it. Well, 33 of you agreed and submitted entries. After much deliberation over sake, chocolate and cheese with friends at my dining room table Thursday night, I am finally sober enough to announce the winner of the Cheese Underground Cheese Limerick contest.