Marcel Petite uses two aging facilities - one in the old munitions fort called Fort Saint Antoine and the other is Les Granges. Each location offers a specific aging environment which is best suited to cheeses that are hand selected by Claude - the master taster (chef du cave).
Trois Sapins is a brown label Comté which means that it is not selected for substantial aging and is intended to be a simple cheese, eaten when young. Aged about 9 months by the time it arrives at our door, this is a pliant Comté with grassy flavors with hints of walnuts.
This raw farmstead cow's milk cheese is made by Doug Erb at Landaff Creamery in Landaff, New Hampshire. Doug has a herd of prize-winning cows whose milk wasn't profitable in the struggling dairy economy. After some consultation with the Kehler brothers from the Cellars at Jasper Hill, Doug decided to add value to his milk by making cheese. Doug traveled to the U.K. and spent time learning how to make Caerphilly with Chris Duckett, took this knowledge back to the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and made his own version of Caerphilly. His story is the quintessential example of cheese maker ingenuity in the growing American artisan cheese movement.
Landaff is buttery, herbal, and has a pleasing yogurty tang on the finish. The texture is crumbly but still soft, and the aroma is redolent of clean grass. The natural rind is well-developed by the affineurs of the Cellars at Jasper Hill, and can be eaten with the paste for even more depth of flavor. Pair with an herbal Belgian tripel or a glass of peaty Scotch.
Consider Bardwell Farm is located in West Pawlet, Vermont. Cheesemaker Peter Dixon (a cornerstone of the Vermont cheese making world) uses milk from the farm's herd of 100 Oberhasli goats - a rare breed known for their high quality milk.
Manchester is an aged goat's milk tomme that offers full flavors of fruits and nuts. The flavor profile is at once earthy (from the perfectly-developed rind) and bright (from the clean milk of happy goats). The texture is crumbly but firm. It has a sharpness that makes it an excellent candidate for pairings with fruit such as pear or apples.
A farmhouse sheep's milk cheese from the Vallee D'Ossau Iraty using the milk of the traditional breed of sheep: brebis béarnaise. Brebis Pardou has a wonderful smooth and supple texture with flavors and aromas of herbs, nuts, and sweet cream.
- Wellington Water Crackers, Toasted Sesame.
- Castleton Crackers, Middlebury Maple.
This ham is from free-range pigs that roam oak forests (called dehesas) along the border between Spain and Portugal, and eat only acorns during this last period. It is also known as jamón ibérico de Montanera. The exercise and diet have a significant impact on the flavor of the meat; the ham is cured for 36 months.
