As an homage to Alpage (see below for details), we have put together a collection of three cheeses, each of which are reflective of these practices and flavor profiles.
Comte - 8oz
Marcel Petite, Jura, France
Raw cows' milk
From the Jura mountains, Comte is a legendary and complex cheese. Flavors span from light and milky to rich and moody. This one has flavors of broth, grass and leaves.
Ossau Iraty - 8oz
Basco Bearnais, Vallee D'Aspe, France
Raw sheeps' milk
This classic French sheeps' milk cheese is made in the Pyrenees mountains. This version has a firm, dense texture with sweet notes of olives, grass, hay and flowers.
Pleasant Ridge - 8oz
Uplands Farm, Dodgeville, Wisconsin
Raw cows' milk
This is one of our favorite aged, alpine-style cheeses. Like the coveted alpage versions of Comte, Pleasant Ridge is made only in the summer months. This cheese is characterized by rich, smooth, complex flavors with pleasing hints of caramel, salt and a grassy, floral finish.
In mountainous regions around the world, late Spring and early Fall see the seasonal migration of farm animals from fields located close to the home to high altitude meadows in the mountains.
The reason for this migration is to take advantage of summer pastures, a rich mixture of grasses, herbs and flowers whose flavors are directly transferred to the animals' milk. In turn, this comes through in the cheeses, made daily in small mountain huts adjacent to the pasture. This practice is known as “Alpage” and results in cheeses whose superior depth of flavor characteristics are highly prized.
