Andy and Mateo Kehler started much more than a farmstead cheese company in 2003 when they began making cheese at Jasper Hill Farm. For generations, their family spent summers in northeastern Vermont, and as the boys grew, they watched the farming industry decline to the verge of collapse. Jasper Hill Farm and its cheese were the first steps in their vision to revitalize the landscape and the economy in the region.
When the Kehler boys were kids, a 35- to 40-cow dairy farm could sustain a family. They were determined to make that a reality again, adding value to their milk by transforming it into artisan cheese. Their cheeses were an immediate success, and that was all the inspiration they needed to blast into part of their acreage in 2007 to construct the Cellars at Jasper Hill’s site near Greensboro.
This 22,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art cheese maturation (affinage) and distribution facility is the first of its kind in the United States. By offering affinage expertise and labor, marketing and sales, and distribution logistics, the operation removes some of the biggest hurdles in artisan cheesemaking, and frees cheesemakers to focus on producing the highest-quality milk possible and developing their skills. Having an array of cheeses from different producers in one location also gives everyone more opportunities to learn about rind, flavor and texture development in maturing cheeses.
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