On our way back from Sunriver on Sunday, The Renaissance Man drove and I happily drifted in and out of my dreams. The combination of warm sun streaming in the window, music on the radio, and exhaustion from a weekend of playing hard made for the perfect nap-time trifecta!
I had really conked out in the car when suddenly, I realized we were bumping down a gravel road toward the Willamette Valley Cheese Company tasting room. I thought I might have been dreaming, but The Renaissance Man had made an executive decision to stop and try out some cheese!
The tasting room is nestled at the end of a long gravel road amongst the barns and the cows. Speaking of cows, I love them! When I was a kid, my babysitter lived on a dairy farm and I spent days of my life walking in the pastures alongside the cows. You’ll notice that Willamette Valley Cheese Company has a mixture of both Jersey Cows (the butterscotch colored ones) and Holstein Cows (the black and white ones).
We learned from the tasting room hostess that they only use the milk from the Jersey Cows for their farmstead cheese because it has good flavor and a higher fat content. They sell the milk from the Holstein Cows to a local food co-op.
Mooooooo.
And then it was time to taste some cheese! Willamette Valley Cheese has over thirty types of cheese that you can taste on a daily basis. So much cheese, so little time! We started out tasting the Goudas, and then on to the French Prairie Brie, the Perrydale, and finished up with the cheddars.
Our hostess had a wealth of knowledge about the local area and about the different types of cheese. She did a great job listening to feedback about what we liked or didn’t like, and then recommending another type of cheese to try. I felt like she took us on a journey through the Willamette Valley via cheese! With a crowded tasting room and each group wanting to try different things, she rocked at multi-tasking!
They even provide a list of the cheeses so you can jot down tasting notes! Given the wide variety of cheeses, having something to take notes on was super helpful.
We learned that the Willamette Valley Cheese Company has won numerous awards from The American Cheese Society. In fact, the Aged Gouda placed 6th in the World in 2012!
After tasting all sorts of cheese, the hardest part was making a decision about what we enjoyed the most. It was a tough call to make, but I think we did a fine job!
We purchased the Aged Farmstead Gouda, the Chive & Black Pepper Gouda, and the Perrydale. I am a huge fan of Gouda, and The Renaissance Man had to get the Perrydale since it’s actually the only cheese they make that has both sheep and cows milk. The Perrydale has such a unique flavor and I’m excited to share it with friends!
Three cheers for cheese and for happy cows!
