Our Cave to Co-op for December 2024 is Storyteller, a raw sheep’s milk and natural rind cheese from Grafton Village Cheese in Grafton, Vermont.

The Grafton Village Cheese Company was founded in 1892 as the Grafton Co-operative Cheese Company to convert surplus milk from local dairy farmers into cheese. In 1912, the cheesemaking factory burned down, and the community had no cheese facility until 1962, when the Windham Foundation restored the factory and brought cheesemaking back to the community. The Foundation is dedicated to promoting the rural communities of Vermont. The profits from Grafton Village Cheese go back into the Foundation to further its commitment to keeping rural Vermont alive and thriving. Today, quality and taste are still the hallmarks of the company’s products.

The Grafton Cave Aged line of fine cheeses takes Grafton beyond its roots in Vermont Cheddar cheese. The cheese is carefully matured in Grafton’s own cave aging facility using thermalized raw milk containing no artificial hormones. The rennet used is a non-GMO microbial rennet suitable for vegetarians.

Storyteller is a Pyrenees-style cave-aged sheep’s milk cheese made with 100% unpasteurized/raw sheep’s milk sourced from the Central New York Dairy Sheep Milk Producers Co-operative. The majority of co-op sheep are pastured on a clover grass mix during the summer months, producing milk with abundant herbaceous flavor. The producers are part of the Amish community, farming with horse-drawn machinery and milking the sheep by hand.

Storyteller is aged in traditional basket-weave molds for at least six months in Grafton’s caves. Its creamy paste, earthy aroma, balance of nutty and grassy flavors, and a lingering/long finish make it an ideal representation of sheep’s milk cheese.

Try Storyteller on your cheese board. It has a firm texture and pairs well with marcona almonds, Serrano ham, dried apricots, figs, dates, and red wine. It is a stellar table cheese.