LEARN

“A Taste of Place: What Makes Your Cheese Special”

 

This event has been Canceled.

“A Taste of Place”

Since 2013, Peter Dixon & Rachel Fritz Schaal have been making natural cheese at https://www.parishhillcreamery.com/. These cheeses are a unique reflection of southern Vermont pastures and the cheese making heritage of that state. As they say, “From breed and feed, range and bedding, handling, pumping, filtering, hauling and storage — every choice changes the result.” More recently they have extended this philosophy to a collective effort: Cornerstone, a cheese made the exact same way by three cheese makers in three different regions. Each Cornerstone cheese embodies that region and cheesemaker.

Every good cheese maker creates cheese that is specific to their own skill, environment, and passion for dairy. Without external labeling — such as the European ‘Protected Domain of Origin’ scheme — available to a cheese maker, how do we tell our current and future customers what makes our cheese special? Peter and Rachel will spend a day with Maine cheese makers to explain how they have done it — for instance, what is ‘Natural Cheese’? — as well as offer other examples from other cheese makers and regions who have successfully defined the Taste of their Place, convincing cheese lovers to seek out their cheeses.

A six hour lecture course, plus a one hour lunch and tasting break. Attendees are encouraged to bring samples of their own special cheeses and marketing materials for evaluation and feedback.”

Workshop

Workshop – Developing a Tasting and Grading Program

As cheesemakers, we’re always tasting our cheese (it’s one of the major perks!) but it can be hard to capture the info that our taste buds are telling us. In this workshop, we’ll discuss how to develop a simple and effective tasting and grading program for your small creamery. We will discuss when and how to taste your cheese throughout the aging process and how to take that information back to the vat. We will also talk about the common sensory defects found in cheese, the importance of shelf-life sampling, and of course we’ll taste some cheese!
Kate Turcotte has been a cheesemaker for over 15 years and has worked at Shelburne Farms, Consider Bardwell, Orb Weaver Creamery, and von Trapp Farm. 

When: February 02, 2025 , 1 PM – 4 PM  EST
Where: Balfour Farm, 461 Webb Rd., Pittsfield

EVENT DETAILS and registration.

 

Award Winners

2024 Maine Cheese Award Winners

2024 Maine Cheese Awards announced.  The Awards are sponsored and organized by the Maine Tasting Center in Wiscassset Maine. Download a pdf file of Maine’s winning cheeses here.

Maine Tasting Center Events offer cheese enthusiasts an opportunity to sample and learn about  Maine  foods including cheeses. Check  out the Center’s  events calendar for their Taste of Maine  events.

 

“Maine Tasting Center is the name of our campus in Wiscasset, a well-provisioned, central location where we run our classes, operate our Tasting Room, and offer space to our industry partners, producer partners and community partners from across the state for their own educational purposes.”

~ Maine Tasting Center