A day in the life of an Affineuse...

Caromont Cave...Red Row raw cows milk

 Word of the week...'affinage'!  I spent today learning a little about aging cheese from a wonderful woman who makes delicious cheese, Gail Hobbs-Page of Caromont Farm. After a tour of the dairy - including an audience with her awesome Kickstarter-acquired new cheese vat, Gail and cheesemaker Alhena set me to work in the 'cave'. Anyone who has visited High Meadows has had Caromont cheese in one form or another - cheeseplates or crepes, or even cheesecake - my favorites include the fresh chevre, the amazing Red Row, and now...Tinto. It was my job today, in the cave, to flip the Tinto and to wash and flip the Esmontonian. These are all raw milk cheeses, aged for a minimum of 60 days. Gail and I tasted several of the Red Row batches - it was amazing to taste, feel and smell the difference that a few weeks of ripening can add to a cheese!
After donning hairnet, rubber shoes, rubber apron and rubber gloves - I got to work in front of a pan of brine...the cheese wash - in this case, a mixture of local vinegar and water.  Using a small delicate brush, and starting with the youngest cheese - each round was carefully brushed to remove surface mold, washed, then flipped and placed back on the shelf to continue aging. The Esmontonian is made in basket-like forms, so there is a lovely 'woven' pattern all over the outside of the cheese round...it's beautiful! The vinegar solution clouds as the youngest cheeses are washed, and it begins to thicken.  By the time the oldest cheeses are being washed, it is an almost creamy solution that is somehow beautiful.  It coats the cheese rounds, and you just know that in that perfect humidity and temperature, good things are going to happen.

I can't say the outfit was the most glamorous (see hairnet photo above) - but being alone in the cave, with the pungent smell of the cheeses, in the company of those glorious cheesemites doing their work - I can easily see how one could become obsessed with the art of making cheese. I suppose it helps that I am an admirer of chef-turned-cheesemaker Gail - we met soon after we came to High Meadows, when she brought me a gift of her amazing chevre.  Her husband Daniel, is a fixture at the Nellysford farmer's market on Saturday mornings, smiling behind the cheese, and at his restaurant in Charlottesville, Hamilton's at First & Main. Point is, I think the cheese is so lovely because there are such lovely people nurturing it!  Gail says she thinks it helps that the goats are milked about 10 feet from the cheese making room...the milk doesn't travel - talk about local food!

I will be acting as affineuse as often as I can - it was a wonderful, peaceful experience.  The photos below are of the Red Row in the foreground, the Esmontonain on the back shelves, and the Tinto (the very dark rind cheese) in the bottom picture.  That cheese is washed in red wine(!) and my new favorite. Maybe next time that one will be on my list to care for!

And now for the really cool news...if you've visited all the wineries, but you still like coming back to Charlottesville - you can work with the cheese at Caromont for a day!  Washing takes place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, from about 9am til sometime after lunch.  The Friday worker gets lunch cooked by Gail!  We are still putting the package together - breakfast early at High Meadows, we will send you to Caromont with a picnic, and you will get a tour of the dairy and instructions for the day. Back to High Meadows for a massage, and a cheese tray to taste all the goodies from Caromont. Email us if you are interested - it's a once in a lifetime experience!

Caromont Cave...Red Row (foreground) Esmontonian (background)

Caromont Cave...Tinto - raw goats milk