Seasonal Cheeses Spring to Life:  Grayson and Ameribella

After a long winter wait, these two funky cheeses are ready to
be released.

AMC110 Meadow Creek Dairy – Grayson – 1 / 4#

Grayson is an unpasteurized, washed rind cow’s milk cheese from
Meadow Creek Dairy, a family-run farm located in the mountains of southwest
Virginia. Since Grayson is a farmstead cheese, the Feete family is able to
control many aspects of their cheesemaking in an ecologically ethical manner,
including rotational pasture grazing, seasonal milking and the absence of
herbicides and pesticides.

One of the most thrilling aspects of purchasing and consuming
farmstead cheeses from pasture-grazing herds is the variability seen from
season to season. Zuercher will soon be receiving the first shipment of spring
milk Grayson (ETA 6/30), and we’re excited to discover what’s in store. We’ve
always found the texture of Grayson to be supple and fudgy, thanks to the rich
quality of their Jersey cow’s milk. The flavor is often yeasty, brothy and
slightly sweet with nutty and grassy overtones.

B1670 Jacobs & Brichford – Ameribella – 1 / 2#

We are happy to announce that another eagerly-awaited cheese is
now in-house at Zuercher:  spring milk Ameribella! Like Meadow Creek
Dairy, Jacobs & Brichford’s small family farm practices rotational grazing
and seasonal milking. Their herd of Jersey, Normande and Tarentaise crossbred
cattle provide unpasteurized milk for their cheese.

Inspired by the washed rind cheeses of northern Italy,
Ameribella is consistently sweet and funky. This year’s batch of spring milk
Ameribella has clean barnyard and hay flavors mingling with wildflowers and a
tangy crème fresh finish. The color is quite striking; you’ll notice a rich
buttery-yellow hue in the paste – an indication of especially carotene-rich
young grass upon which their cows are grazing.