Wine and cheese are intertwined in the taste buds of many eaters.
With the introduction of the Finger Lakes Cheese Trail, the local makers of wines and cheese are also intertwined.
“We’re being put on the winery maps, so when people take tours, they know there’s cheese right nearby and they pair the two together,” said Rose Belforti, owner of cheese trail member Finger Lakes Dexter Creamery in King Ferry.
Belforti and the nine other cheese producers and distributors on the trail form a dairy network stretching from Engelbert Farms in Nichols, on the Pennsylvania border, to Wake Robin Farm, in Jordan.
Meg Schader, who runs Wake Robin with her husband, Bruce, feels the cheese trail not only bolsters their own business but creates a crucial awareness for eaters everywhere.
“I love the fact that the trail is getting people to recognize that there is local food in every category, not just vegetables,” Meg said. “Customers get excited when they can buy all their groceries from farmers, and that’s just the kind of people we want to meet.”
During the trail’s open house Saturday, July 10, every member will open their doors to offer free samples of their dairy wares and, in some cases, glimpses at their production.
The Dexter Creamery specializes in kefir cheese, an original concoction of Belforti’s. She engineered the cheese about three years ago with assistance from Cornell University. Commonly a probiotic fermented milk drink, the kefir originates from Belforti’s eight Dexter cows. She prides herself on keeping the process healthy for the animals, never prematurely separating calves from their mothers.
“They take two teats and I take the other two,” she said. “It’s the way dairy was meant to be.”
The kefir is then turned into one of seven kinds of cheese at the Dexter Creamery. Common to them all is a tangy taste and a probiotic punch of 30 to 50 organisms that goes toe to toe with any yogurt.
Wake Robin’s sample table will be stocked with a more diverse selection of cheeses it makes: Floradell, a creamy cheese with subtle flavors; Mona Lisa, an Italian-style cheese; Caerffili, a tangy Welsh cheese; Bailiwick cheddar, a creamy twist on classic cheddar; and Opus, an original cheese that Schader said reminds some tasters of pungent English cheddar. The farm will also offer fresh curds for tasting.
Between bites, Wake Robin visitors can see the cheeses being made by Bruce Schader.
“It’s not the most exciting thing to watch unless you catch it at the right moment,” Meg said. “A lot of monitoring and manipulating.”
However thrilling their cheese production is, Finger Lakes Cheese Trail members feel a genuine excitement about the trail and the effect it’ll have on their trade.
“It should be a really good thing for our counties and another nice thing for people to do,” Belforti said.
Staff writer David Wilcox can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 245 or david.wilcox@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter at drwilcox.
If you go
What: Open house for Finger Lakes Cheese Trail
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 10
The Finger Lakes Cheese Trail
Wake Robin Farm, 125 Brutus Road, Jordan. Visit www.wakerobinfarm.org.
Keeley’s Cheese Co., 539 Route 34B, King Ferry. Visit www.keeleyscheeseco.com.
Finger Lakes Dexter Creamery, 1853 Black Rock Road, King Ferry.Visit www.kefircheese.com.
Finger Lakes Farmstead Cheese Co., Trumansburg.Visit www.fingerlakes-cheese.com.
Muranda Cheese, Waterloo. Visit www.muranda.com.
Lively Run Goat Dairy, Interlaken. Visit www.livelyrun.com.
Northland Sheep Dairy, Marathon. Visit www.northlandsheepdairy.com.
Sidehill Acres Goat Farm, Candor. Visit www.sidehillacres.bizland.com.
Engelbert Farms, Nichols. Visit www.engelbertfarms.com.
Sunset View Creamery, Odessa. Visit www.sunsetviewcreamery.com.
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