"wisconsin cheese" news and stories

There's no question that Wisconsin is a dairy state. From the opening of its first cottage-cheese factory in 1841 to being the first state, in 1921, to rank its cheese based on quality, Wisconsin plays a historical role in America's perception of dairy. And, that's why we're kicking off our series on cheese states to visit with Wisconsin. After all, one of the best ways to view American dairies is to head directly to the state where much of today's American cheese culture began.

The best way to approach Wisconsin cheese is to visit a few of the state's many different farms, to learn their techniques firsthand, and to meet the cheesemakers themselves. The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB) just created a user-friendly list of that state's cheesemakers and cheese shops. We've highlighted our top five must-see cheesemakers based on their ingenuity, their use of Wisconsin land and the overall quality of their cheese.

Not too long ago, I tasted a creamy mildly crunchy cow's milk cheese called Pleasant Ridge Reserve. The exquisite flavor of this cheese is due to the fact that the cow's are grazing on 300 acres of lush Wisconsin pastures from early spring through the fall. This is a crucial difference between many industrial cheeses and artisanal cheeses. Artisanal cheeses, like this one, use milk from cows grazing a natural pasture.

Pleasant Ridge Reserve's complexity of flavors makes it the perfect cheese to pair with different jams and honeys. I encourage you to taste it with mirabelle jam. You can also eat it with freshly sliced apples and pears. Like any artisanal cheese, you don't have to pair it with anything to savor its array of aromas. Nevertheless, condiments seem to highlight this cheese particularly well.

Visit Uplands Cheese Company!
Pleasant Ridge Reserve comes from a small dairy farm in Dodgeville, Wisconsin that's operated by two families: Mike and Carol Gingrich and Dan and Jeanne Patenaude. The cheese was inspired by French mountain-style cheeses, such as Comté. Besides finding this cheese in Wisconsin, you can purchase it from Saxelby Cheesemongers in NYC. It's well worth the $26 per pound from Uplands Cheese Company.

Uh oh. Maybe it's not just a tv commercial. It looks like all the cows have fled Wisconsin and made it to the sunny fields of California.

Although Wisconsin is known as this country's Dairy State, California beat it out for milk production more than 10 years ago. Now, Wisconsin faces the possibility of another humiliating defeat, as California catches up to it in cheese production. While Wisconsin made 2.4 billion pounds of cheese last year, California was close behind with 2.14 billion pounds. Will California beat Wisconsin?

According to dairy economists, the answer is yes. Even Wisconsinites have sadly accepted the impending defeat. John T. Umhoefer, the executive director of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, said that California "won't roar by us, but they will pass us."