As you can imagine, opening a farmstead dairy and creamery is hard. From establishing abundant pastures, and a herd of healthy animals capable of providing high quality milk, to design and construction of an efficient facility for production and proper aging, to hiring good workers who can learn to produce, market, and ship your product; each of these tasks pose massive challenges, are wholly reliant upon one another, and the formula is complicated. For this week’s pairing, we’re highlighting a creamery that has not only recently opened, but did so during the pandemic. Nestled on 400 acres of farmland, and perched above the western shores of Lake Michigan, in the town of Port Washington, WI, Blakesville Creamery is beating all the odds. It was 2012 when the owner purchased the farm and began the process of transitioning the farm from a traditional cow dairy to one that cared for goats. The farm’s primary goal was to produce quality goat milk using sustainable farming practices, while concurrently, building a business that listened to the environmental and social needs of its surrounding community. Following 7+ years spent establishing the goat dairy, the creamery was slated to begin production in April of 2020. Due to the emergence of the pandemic, plans got delayed, and delayed some more. And markets evaporated overnight. But the vision on the farm was still clear, and the team at Blakesville Creamery forged ahead with their big dreams. Under the guidance of head cheesemaker, Veronica Pedraza, they begin listening, learning, and adapting to what was happening around them, and the creamery began making cheese. We’ve been lucky enough to stock Blakesville’s cheeses in our cases from the very beginning, and we’ve been delighted with them. The cheese we celebrate this week is Blakesville Creamery’s Lake Effect. A soft ripened goats milk cheese, Lake Effect delivers the perfect combination of earthy aroma and sweet and salty paste, along with ideal ratios of cream line and bloomy rind chew. Our chosen wine pairing for this cheese is, Le Havre de Paix, from the Côtes de Gascogne wine district of southwestern France, just north of the Pyrenees mountains. With vibrant notes of green apple and honeycomb, along with a faint minerality, this white blend is a wonderful partner for the Lake Effect, as the wine’s buttery structure holds its own against the cheese’s rich and creamy finish.