Library of Cheese

All of Saxelby’s selections organized from A to Z

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Cheese Stats

Milk Type: Cow

Milk Treatment: Pasteurized

Rennet: Animal

Style: Bloomy Rind

Texture: Soft

Age: 4-8 Weeks

Size: 4oz Wheel

Raptured

Lazy Lady Farm - Westfield, Vermont

Laini Fondiller has outdone herself once again. Raptured, though pasteurized, has all the gamey and deep cow-y flavor of a raw milk Banon from France. The cheese is fresh, young, and fluffy in texture to begin, but after it is wrapped in leaves and then washed in brandy, those mild-mannered young cheeses begin to take a turn towards the more interesting. Not only does the alcohol bring out the barnyard flavors in the cheese, but the rich caramel and fruity notes of the brandy strike the perfect balance of funk and fresh.

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Cheese Stats

Milk Type: Cow

Milk Treatment: Raw

Rennet: Animal

Style: Washed Rind

Texture: Semi-Firm

Age: 3-4 Months

Size: 20lb Wheel

Reading Raclette

Spring Brook Farm - Reading, Vermont

This cheese from Spring Brook Farm represents the efforts of cheesemaker Jeremy Stephenson and a young French dairy consultant who hails from the Alps. Reading Raclette is a semi-firm wheel of raw cows’ milk cheese that is washed with saltwater brine as it matures to the tender age of 3-4 months. The paste is pliant and supple, with a heady flavor that favors fruity and milky notes. The melt-in-your-mouth cheese is graced with a kick of saltiness that finishes off on the palate. This cheese is a sublime melter, and is an ideal cheese to serve during the cold months as a traditional meal of Raclette, or melted in anything from gratin to grilled cheese.

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Cheese Stats

Milk Type: Cow

Milk Treatment: Pasteurized

Rennet: Animal

Style: Natural Rind

Texture: Semi-Firm

Age: 2-3 Months

Size: 4lb Wheel

Red Rock

Roelli Cheese Haus - Shullsburg, Wisconsin

A new take on two classic cheeses! Orange cheddar meets blue, in an epiphany of complementary colors! (and awesome flavor too!) It is rumored that the first cheeses to be dyed with annatto seed came from Northern France in an effort to appease Napoleon when the French were fighting with the Dutch way back when... (He couldn’t get his Edam on the regular. Can you imagine?! France importing cheese from Holland?!) And it is also rumored that American GI’s brought that love of orange cheese back with them from France back in WWII. However our cheddars turned orange, it is a cheesy tradition worth celebrating. Red Rock is a brick of orange cheddar from Wisconsin with blue culture and blue veins running through it. The rind is rustic and natural, and allowed to form naturally after the bricks are made. It’s a true American original! The flavor of Red Rock is a winning combination of roasted peanuts, toasty caramel, mushrooms, and onions. Aged for 2-3 months.

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Cheese Stats

Milk Type: Cow

Milk Treatment: Pasteurized

Rennet: Vegetarian

Style: Fresh

Texture: Soft

Age: 1-3 Weeks

Size: 1lb Tub

Renaissance Ricotta

Narragansett Creamery - Providence, Rhode Island

An award-winning ricotta made in small batches and dipped by hand. Each batch is smooth, milky lemony, and sweet, with a fluffy and irresistible texture. Renaissance Ricotta got its name due to the fact that the company that makes it, Narragansett Creamery, was a bit of a renaissance in cheesemaking for owners Mark and Patty Federico. They had been making cheese for food service clients for years, but thanks to the help of Louella Hill, an intrepid dairymaid and passionate advocate for local food, they retooled their business to include a lineup of stellar handmade Italian and Latin-style cheeses. Sometimes, simple is best.

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Cheese Stats

Milk Type: Sheep

Milk Treatment: Pasteurized

Rennet: Vegetarian

Style: Fresh

Texture: Soft

Age: 1-2 Weeks

Size: 1lb Tub

Ricotta Lana

Vermont Shepherd - Westminster West, Vermont

This seasonal jewel is hard to get your hands on, so when summer hits, be sure to ask for it! Ricotta Lana is a fresh sheeps’ milk ricotta that is the vernal labor of love of David Major, cheesemaker and owner of Vermont Shepherd. Available from May through September each year, this ricotta is the real deal. The texture is curdy and dense, making it a perfect addition to ravioli or stuffing for squash blossoms. It tastes of butter and sweet milk, with a touch of that nutty, sheepy, barnyardy flavor that evokes a Sicilian cheese house powered by an Italian grandma and a flock of sheep.

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Cheese Stats

Milk Type: Cow

Milk Treatment: Pasteurized

Rennet: Animal

Style: Fresh

Texture: Soft

Age: 4-5 weeks

Size: 2lb wheel

Ricotta Salata Vecchia

Caputo Brothers Creamery - Spring Grove, Pennsylvania

Finally! A domestic ricotta salata that holds its own against Italy’s finest! Most American ricotta is whole milk ricotta, or as cheesemaker Rynn Caputo calls it, just ‘cotta’. It’s just milk that has been heated and curdled. In Italian, ‘ricotta’ literally translates to ‘re-cooked’ which is what they do with the whey after making Pecorino Romano to make Italian ricotta. The texture of true Italian ricotta is a world away from its domestic counterpart - it is custardy, smooth and eggy. Caputo Brothers Creamery makes their ricotta from the whey leftover from making their mozzarella curd. The ricotta is drained and aged in their cave, during which time it develops a funky, gray-ish purple mold on the rind. The rinds are rubbed down before shipping, but the signature ‘funk’ of the cave is evident upon first bite. The cheese is salty, lactic, and crumbly and has a pleasant hint of earthy, barnyard funk.

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Cheese Stats

Milk Type: Sheep

Milk Treatment: Raw

Rennet: Animal

Style: Blue

Texture: Soft

Age: 2-4 Months

Size: 6lb Wheel

Roquefort

Herve Mons - Midi Pyrénées, France

This world renowned cheese needs no introduction! Instead, a re-introduction: Mons Roquefort. Affineur Herve Mons sources his Roquefort from Gabriel Coulet, a one of five remaining AOC Roquefort producers. While some of the others have become large and corporate, Coulet has remained a small family-owned business since 1872. This cheese finishes its aging in the Mons cave where it has time to "de-stress" and release extra moisture to only concentrate its full flavors and full bodied texture coming from the high quality sheep's milk. Pairs well with sweet white wines.

Cheese Stats

Milk Type: Cow

Milk Treatment: Raw

Rennet: Animal

Style: Washed Rind / Natural Rind

Texture: Firm

Age: 6-9 months

Size: 35lb wheel

Rupert

Consider Bardwell Farm - West Pawlet, Vermont

Move over Gruyere… here comes Rupert, a regal whale of a wheel of cheese from Consider Bardwell Farm. Each 35 pound wheel of Rupert is stamped with a whale shape as well as the batch number when the curds are being pressed, no doubt an homage to its grandeur and heft. The cheese is a dense, fruity, butterscotchy, and nutty experience, with a well-honed flavor profile that extends on the palate long after the last bite. The wheels are aged for a minimum of nine months to ensure the development of the cheese’s dignified, lingering flavor.

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Cheese Stats

Milk Type: Cow

Milk Treatment: Raw

Rennet: Animal

Style: Washed Rind / Natural Rind

Texture: Firm

Age: 12+ month

Size: 35lb wheel

Rupert Reserve

Consider Bardwell Farm - West Pawlet, Vermont

Move over Gruyere… here comes Rupert, a regal whale of a wheel of cheese from Consider Bardwell Farm. Each 35 pound wheel of Rupert is stamped with a whale shape as well as the batch number when the curds are being pressed, no doubt an homage to its grandeur and heft. The cheese is a dense, fruity, butterscotchy, and nutty experience, with a well-honed flavor profile that extends on the palate long after the last bite. The Reserve wheels are aged for a minimum of twelve months to ensure that each bite is jam-packed with sharp, barnyardy goodness!

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Cheese Stats

Milk Type: Cow

Milk Treatment: Raw

Rennet: Animal

Style: Washed Rind

Texture: Soft

Age: 2-3 Months

Size: 12oz Wheel

Rush Creek Reserve

Uplands Cheese Company - Dodgeville, Wisconsin

Rush Creek Reserve is the stuff cheese dreams are made of. Made in the tradition of Vacherin Mont d'Or, a famous cheese from the Jura region of France, Rush Creek is made for 8 weeks each fall, when the cows at Uplands go off pasture and begin to eat dry hay supplemented with a touch of grain. This shift in diet makes their milk especially rich and decadent. Each wheel is wrapped with a spruce bark girdle, keeping the gooey paste at bay until it hits the dinner table! The spoonable cheese is hearty and complex, with a wide range of flavors from creme fraiche, freshly cut grass, hazelnuts and smoked meat all making their way onto the palate. Aged for 60-75 days and available each year from November through January.

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Cheese Illustration Credits: Debra Ziss

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