little falls farm cheese cave
There’s a terrific article in the NYT food section today defining and discussing the advantages of affinage for the cheese retailers (some of whom are becoming affineurs), as well as for the customer. It includes a loud and strident argument against the benefits of affinage by cheesemonger and author Steve Jenkins, claiming it’s “a total crock” and “all it does is drastically inflate the cost of cheeses that have benefited zero from this faux-alchemical nonsense.” The story has many quotes from the best known practitioners of affinage (Murray’s, Jasper Hill, Artisanal) as well as many cheese makers (Cowgirl Creamery, Vermont Butter and Cheese) who also speak to it’s critical nature in the production of high quality cheeses. The payoff comes at the end of the article when three NYT food writers critique a blind tasting of the same cheeses from Murray’s, Artisanal, and Fairway (where Jenkins is the cheese buyer).
Our annual meeting was held at State of Maine Cheese Co., located on Route 1 in Rockport. We reviewed our year, we re-elected Cathe Morrill (State of Maine Cheese Co.) to another board term, as well as to the Vice Presidency (congratulations Cathe, and thank you for arranging for lunch), we set our 2012 meeting schedule (found on the 
Our October meeting was hosted by Turner Farm in North Haven, a ferry ride from Rockland. Despite an overcast morning, we got a tour of the farm and all of its projects (cheese, pork, beef, chicken, turkeys, eggs, and lots of vegetables), a wonderful lunch, an informative workshop on yogurt making and lactic cheeses, and then had a delightful ride in the sun back to Rockland.
