Bijou

Bijou is an exquisite, little, soft-ripened, pasteurised goat-milk cheese produced by Vermont Creamery located in Websterville, Vermont.

Bijou, which means "Jewel" in French, is quite the fitting name for this tiny little cheese that embodies all that is unique in the making and caring of a small 'crottin type' goat-milk cheese.

 

Bijou is made with fresh pasteurised goat-milk which is supplied to Vermont Creamery by 20 family goat farms. The curd coagulates overnight, drains in cheese-cloths and then shaped into little cylinder buttons. Bijou is then dried and matured for 1 week before being packaged for retail. Each container which is designed to promote ripening contains 2 Bijou cheese crottins. Each Bijou weighs 2 oz.(57 grams) and measures approx. 1 1/2 inch (4 cm) in diameter and 1 1/4 inch (3.5 cm) in height. Bijou like 'crottin type' cheeses evolves with time, gaining in sharpness and complexity as it reaches an ideal maturity at 30 days.

Bijou is an award winning chèvre for Vermont Creamery. It has received the 1st Place position in the category of American made International style goat cheese at both the 2014 and the 2015 American Cheese Society competitions. Bijou also received the Gold medal at the 2014 World Cheese Awards.

Bijou has a lovely wrinkly, cream coloured, geotrichum-rind and a milk-white soft paste that is denser in the middle and creamier on the outside. Bijou has a wonderful sweet and yeasty taste & aroma due to the geo-rind. It has a smooth, rich and creamy texture with a robust tangy flavour with hints of hazelnuts.

Bijou is quite a versatile cheese it can be served as a creamy spreadable goat when young, toasted on a baguette with a salad for a traditional French chèvre-chaud or it can stand on its own on any cheese platter. Bijou pairs nicely with complex aromatic white wines such as an Alsace Gewürztraminer or try it with a Belgium Tripel beer with complex aromas and flavours.

Vermont Creamery has been making cream, fine butter, fresh and aged cheeses for over 30 years. Their fine products have won them over 100 various national and international awards. Read my review on one of their other award winning goat cheese Bonne Bouche.

Vermont Creamery has invested in the future of goat farming by creating a sustainable goat dairy in Randolph Vermont. Ayers Brook Goat Farm is being set up as a teaching venue for future farmers and current farmers across the United States, a place where they can come and learn good animal management and to help encourage the growth of the goat dairy industry in Vermont.  

http://www.vermontcreamery.com/

Bonne Bouche

Bonne Bouche is an outstanding goat milk cheese that is perfectly named as it translates to 'tasty mouthful' in French.

Bonne Bouche, winner of many awards since its introduction in 2001, is a soft, fresh-ripened, ash covered, pasteurized goat-milk cheese from Vermont Creamery located in Websterville, Vermont.

Bonne Bouche is made with fresh pasteurized goat-milk that is coagulated with vegetarian microbial rennet. After 24 hours, then the curd is carefully hand ladled into molds, then drained and lightly sprinkled with ash. The cheese is then aged for about 10 days, long enough for the rind to start to develop its wrinkly, brain-like creases which is 'Geotrichum', a mold used to neutralize or de-acidify the cheese surface. Each Bonne Bouche is then carefully packaged into its own individual little wooden crate where it can continue to age for 1 to 2 months.

Bonne Bouche is a small disc shaped wheel approximately 7 cm (2.5 in.) in diameter and 2 cm (3/4 in.) in height, weighing around 120 grams (4 oz.). What is striking about Bonne Bouche at first glance is its distinctive soft charcoal-grey wrinkled rind. It has a mild pungent aroma with hints of hay and wet caves. The rich and creamy white coloured paste has a sweet lemony mild flavour with hints of mushrooms and pepper. Bonne Bouche is characteristic of a true chèvre; it becomes softer and more piquant as it ages.

Bonne Bouche pairs nicely with dark chocolate and a dry white wine such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Grigio or a California Riesling.

Vermont Creamery (formerly known as Vermont Butter and Cheese Company) was created in 1984 by Allison Hooper and Bob Reese. Today with a staff of more than 40, the creamery produces a variety of fresh and aged dairy products. For the Creamery's goat-milk products, goats' milk is sourced from a network of approximately 20 family goat farms who provide milk that have met the highest standards of purity.  Vermont Creamery produces fresh goat cheese, goat milk feta, fresh Crottin as well as other lovely chèvres like Bonne Bouche; Coupole, Bijou and the mixed-milk Cremont.

For Vermont Creamery’s cows-milk products; crème fraîche, cultured butter, mascarpone, and quark the cows-milk is sourced from Vermont’s St. Albans Cooperative Creamery.

www.vermontcreamery.com/

BellaVitano

BellaVitano is an award winning, firm, pasteurised cow-milk cheese produced by Sartori Cheese located in Plymouth, Wisconsin.

BellaVitano is an Italian style cheese that combines the rich and creamy flavour of cheddar cheese with the tasty, fruity, nutty flavour and the gritty texture of parmesan.

Sartori Cheese is a fourth-generation family owned and operated company that's been in operation since 1939. Sartori Cheese produces various Italian style cheese; from a classic Parmesan, Fontina, Asiago, Romano and their award-winning line of Sartori Reserve Bellavitano cheeses.

The Sartori Reserve BellaVitano artisan cheeses include a spellbinding lineup of BellaVitano cheeses that have been skillfully combined with various flavours. Sartori's Master Cheesemakers have perfectly combined a diversified selection of rich, fruity, Old World flavors with the original texture, creamy with the crystalline crunch of the BellaVitano.

The award-winning line of Sartori Reserve BellaVitano artisan cheeses includes; Balsamic BellaVitano, Black Pepper BellaVitano, Chai BellaVitano, Espresso BellaVitano, BellaVitano Gold, Merlot BellaVitano, Raspberry BellaVitano and their latest limited edition addition, the Cognac BellaVitano. 

Regardless of whether you prefer the spiciness of Chai, the berry and plum notes of Merlot, the tart Raspberry ale, fresh roasted Espresso, BellaVitano is a cheese that pleases everybody.

BellaVitano pairs well with Chardonnay, Merlot or Pinot Noir wines.

http://www.sartoricheese.com/our-cheese/

Harbison

Harbison is a beautiful soft paste, bloomy rind, bark-wrapped cheese from Jasper Hill Farm located in Greensboro in Northeast Vermont.

Harbison is a small cheese wheel measuring approximately 10 cm (4") in diameter, 3 cm (1.25") in height and 340 g (12 oz.) in weight. This lovely little gem is held together with a band of spruce bark that is collected in the woodlands on the farms property.

Jasper Hill Farm is operated by brothers Mateo and Andy Kehler who also operate Cellars at Jasper Hill. Cellars’ is a state of the art network of underground vaults, calibrated with distinct temperature and humidity levels accommodating various cheese styles. Cellars at Jasper Hill was designed to help neighbouring farms to compete as artisanal cheese makers and succeed in today’s marketplace. 

Harbison cheese is made with pasteurised cow milk from Ayrshire cows. Ayrshire milk is perfectly suited for cheesemaking. The high fat and protein content and the way in which they breakdown, is perfect in the development of an excellent cheese.

This delicate cheese has a slight woodsy mushroom aroma with a lovely fresh, herbaceous, sweet creamy taste. When this cheese is ripe, the soft oozing paste is perfect to be spooned out onto a baguette. Or eat it like a fondue, simply leave the whole cheese in the bark and cut back the top rind and scoop out the cheese. Harbison cheese is very similar to the much sought-after seasonal French Vacherin Mont d'Or and Switzerland's Mont d'Or.

Jasper Hill Farm also produce Bayley Hazen Blue, Alpha Tolman a burly Alpine-style cheese, Moses Sleeper, Willoughby and the American Cheese Society’s 2013 Best of Show winner Winnimere, which is a raw milk, larger version of Harbison.

Harbison pairs nicely with a well-balanced, full-bodied, white Gewürztraminer.

Check out this informative video on the making of Harbison cheese.

www.jasperhillfarm.com

www.cellarsatjasperhill.com

Rogue River Blue

A year ago this week, at the 2011 American Cheese Society Convention, I had the opportunity to taste Rogue River Blue cheese from Oregon for the first time. I quickly became a big fan!

Rogue River Blue is an award winning blue cheese, which is wrapped with chestnut leaves that have marinated in pear brandy. This raw cow's milk, natural rind, blue cheese is aged between eight and twelve months and has a moist creamy texture with crunchy granular bits. The flavours are quite complex with notes of burnt cream, coffee, ripened berries and a lingering sweet note of pear brandy. Heavenly!

Rogue River Blue pairs well with a German Gewürztraminer, a Cabernet Franc, a desert wine or even a pear brandy.

Rogue Creamery is one of the USA's oldest dairies, in operation since 1935, located in the beautiful Rogue Valley of southern Oregon. Rogue Creamery has been known for a while now for producing repeat award winning blues and cheddars and the unique Rogue River Blue.

Rogue River Blue Awards;

World’s Best Blue Cheese – 2003 World Cheese Awards, London, England

Best in Show - 2009 American Cheese Society in Austin, Texas.

Best in Show - 2011 American Cheese Society, Montreal, Canada

http://www.roguecreamery.com

Meet the owners and cheesemakers of Rogue Creamery.

Episode #2 Rogue Creamery from Everyday Wonder Productions on Vimeo.