"champlain valley creamery" news and stories

Cream cheese is certainly not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking "artisanal" cheese. However, where there are bagels, and sometimes lox, this fresh, creamy spread is ubiquitous. It usually comes in a plastic container with the name of a large industrial brand name, like Breakstone's Temp Tee and Philadelphia (in Spanish "queso Filadelfia" is translated as "cream cheese"). With that kind of supermarket pedigree, it's hard to believe cream cheese could be artisanal. And yet, after tasting Champlain Valley Creamery's denser (it's not whipped) and richer organic cream cheese, we now know that yes, indeed, it can -- and it makes a big difference in flavor and texture.

What exactly makes the production of Champlain Valley Creamery's cream cheese distinct from its industrial counterparts? To start with, the organic milk used to make the cheese comes from Journey's Hope Farm, a neighboring dairy. Using organic cow's milk from crossbred Jerseys and Holsteins that yield milk with high butterfat produces a tastier milky flavor in the cheese; a slight tang that can also be enjoyed with the creamery's other cheeses (try Champlain Valley Triple Cream).

Photo: Champlain Valley Creamery

Those who associate triple crème cheeses with a dense mousse-like texture and a uniform pristine white bloomy rind will be intrigued and surprised when they try the firmer crottin-size triple crème from Champlain Valley Creamery in Vergennes, Vt. This unconventional triple crème seems to fuse the texture of two entirely different types of cheese: the firmness of a well-aged chèvre, like Pouligny Saint Pierre, and the creaminess of a bloomy rind, like Brillat-Savarin. The result is a cheese with a more interesting flavor profile ranging from milky and sweet to earthy.

After speaking to Carleton Yoder, owner of Champlain Valley Creamery, we found out that this texture has a lot to do with its smaller size – that is, for a triple crème. While most, like Pierre Robert, weigh over 17 ounces, Champlain Valley Triple Cream weighs just about four ounces and is just a little bigger than a French Crottin de Chavignol. The smaller the cheese, the more quickly it loses its moisture. "The cheese is pretty young, about 12 days old, when sold, and is somewhat firm at that age," says Yoder. "It does soften over the next few weeks." Although it's firmer than the average triple crème, it's by no means as firm as an Alpine cheese, like Gruyère. In fact, on the palate, it's definitely as rich and creamy as any other triple crème.