Cheese? Yes, Please, From Columbia And Dutchess Counties

New York has a long history of dairy farming, and where there is milk, there is cheese. Regional small-scale farms and creameries are providing the Hudson Valley with delicious, handmade, artisanal cheeses from local milk. Check out their farm stores, websites, and farmers market to get some of their creamy, nutty, firm, and sweet cheeses –– and other delicacies like goat cheese yogurt, grass-fed beef, and goat milk fudge.

Columbia County Cheesemakers

McGrath Cheese Company, Hudson

The McGrath Cheese Company in Hudson makes hand-craft, small-batch cheeses using milk from small, local dairy farms, including Brookby Farm. Founder Colin McGrath has created a line of cow and goat cheeses that have been nationally recognized more than a dozen times, including two Good Food Awards and first place in The New York State Fair Dairy Competition. Some of their delicious cheeses include The Rascal, a semi-firm, nutty, and mild cheese made from pasteurized cow’s milk and aged for two to four months; and The Goliath, a farmhouse cheddar made from pasteurized cow’s milk and aged for three to five months. You can get their products at farmers markets, grocery stores, and provisions markets.

Old Chatham Creamery, Old Chatham

Old Chatham Creamery has been producing American versions of classic European cheeses and creamy sheep milk yogurt for 25 years with sheep husbandry techniques, advanced technology, and artisan cheesemakers. Check out The Flagship, a bundle of their classic award-winning cheeses with the Roquefort-style Ewe's Blue, the bloomy, sheep's milk Kinderhook, Hudson Valley Camembert, and the three-milk gouda Gorges for $84. Or try something fun and new with the Cheesemaker’s Choice, a package of their new three-milk Boujee Bleu cheese, Gorges Gouda, and two surprise cheeses selected by the head cheesemaker for $84. The Old Chatham Sheep Yogurt Purist is a bundle of six 16-ounce containers of probiotic-rich yogurt for $84.

Miracle Springs camenbert

Miracle Springs, Ancram

David Levine and Jaimie Cloud founded Miracle Springs in Ancram in 2014. Jaimie Cloud is also the founder and president of the Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education, a program that works with school systems to develop curricula to educate students on ecology, economics, and environmental and social sustainability. Try their Peppercorn Chevre Log, an organic soft chevre covered in crushed tellicherry peppercorn, offering a tangy, earthy flavor with a peppery kick ($13.50). Other products include the Signal Rock, a semi-soft cheese with a distinct floral taste and a smooth, salty texture; their Camembert-style cheese; and the Roe Jan Reserve, a raw goat milk cheese aged for over two months. Order their products on their online store, where you can customize a cheese gift box, and at the weekly Millerton farmers market.

Hawthorne Valley, Ghent

Founded in 1972, Hawthorne Valley is an organic, biodynamic, nonprofit farm, creamery, and bakery with its own grocery store, Waldorf school, and summer camp in Ghent. The Hawthorne Valley Farm Store offers locally grown organic produce, fruit, and household products, as well as a deli with sandwiches, soups, salads, hot food, and locally-roasted coffee. The creamery turns out cheese and yogurt with milk from the farm’s grass-fed Brown Swiss cows. Check out their raw milk hard cheeses like the Raclette and the garlic and caraway Alpines, as well as their many soft cheeses like the Fern Hill and Luna cheeses. They also offer raw milk, whey ricotta, quark, buttermilk, packaged cheese curds, and two flavors of yogurt: plain and maple vanilla. Inside the farm store is their certified organic bakery with sourdoughs, yeasted breads, rolls, granolas, scones, muffins, cookies, and other baked goodies. Hawthorne Valley’s dairy products can also be found at Greenmarkets in Union Square and Inwood, as well as at the Hudson farmers market.

Dutchess County Cheesemakers

Chasehold Farm, Pine Plains

Chaseholm Farm in Pines Plains is run by siblings Sarah and Rory Chase, who have been a part of the daily operations on their family farm since childhood. The farm practices holistic, sustainable agriculture, and was certified organic and 100 percent grass-fed in 2017. They create active soil microbiology that supports healthy plants by grazing their cows with no herbicides, pesticides, and synthetic fertilizers. Their creamery is located on the farm, and produces small batches of artisanal cheese. Some of their fresh and aged cheeses are the triple cream Nimbus cheese, the Stella Vallis, a tomme-style raw milk cheese, and a classic nutty, buttery gruyere-style Alpage cheese. The farm also sells fresh raw milk bottled in glass from their grass-fed herd of Jersey and Holstein cows, rich in nutrients and butterfat. They also produce whole-milk yogurt with the help of the Hawthorne Valley Farm; pasteurized milk sold in shops and restaurants throughout the Hudson Valley and Brooklyn; grass-fed beef; and whey-fed pork. Get Chaseholm Farm products at their self-serve farm store, where you’ll also find treats like maple syrup, organic coffee, local honey, sauerkraut, Sparrowbush bread, and charcuterie.

Coach Farm Triple Cream goat cheese

Coach Farm, Pine Plains

Pine Plains artisanal creamery Coach Farm has been producing cheese and yogurt for over 30 years using farm-fresh goat milk. Their fresh, mild-tasting goat cheese products include plain, herb, and black pepper chevre logs, as well as fresh curd and goats milk ricotta. Their aged goat cheese options are slightly tangy with hints of mushroom and hay––and have a smooth and creamy texture. Try their Triple Cream goat cheese, a creamy, rich, and buttery cheese with a smooth texture and notes of citrus. Or check out a customer favorite, the Hudson Valley Truffle, a bloomy rind cheese with shaved truffles, truffle salt, and a rich fudge-like texture. Their Grade A goat’s milk yogurt has a thick and creamy texture, and is offered in plain, strawberry, vanilla, and honey. And check out Yo-Goat, their new product that is a drinkable yogurt made with fresh goat milk and kid-friendly flavors like vanilla, strawberry, blueberry, and mango-peach.