Austin Coe Butler
For this year’s batch selection of Pleasant Ridge Reserve we decided to do something different. Typically in the spring, we drive down to Dodgeville, WI, to visit Andy and his team at Uplands Cheese Co. and sample six to eight days’s batches of Pleasant Ridge Reserve in the creamery before selecting our two favorites to sell throughout the year. It’s important to do batch selection not only because of how important this cheese is to our shop as a best seller, but because of how this cheese is inspired by alpage cheeses where cows graze on diverse pastures making each day’s cheese taste different. This year, with the creation of our new Events Space, we wanted to invite Andy to see the place, and open up batch selection to you, our customers, to get a look behind the scenes, meet Andy, and, of course, enjoy a lunch of Pleasant Ridge.
A few weeks ago, Andy and his head cheesemaker, Eric, (who Andy claims makes more Pleasant Ridge than he does!) made the drive from Dodgeville to Minneapolis. After a long, early morning drive, we made sure to get a few cups of coffee in them while we gave them the grand tour of the gorgeous new Events Space. The staff were busy preparing the buffet for lunch—potatoes au gratin with Pleasant Ridge, our house-made brats in sauerkraut, broccoli covered in melted Pleasant Ridge, and Baker’s Field bread hot from the oven. Soon customers were filing in, grabbing a plate, and taking a seat. After some introductory words by Benjamin, Andy was up in front of the crowd.
Despite his humble, soft-spoken demeanor, Andy is a commanding speaker. He speaks honestly and eloquently about cheesemaking with great charisma, emphasizing that while it’s hard work, rife with many challenges for the dwindling number of American artisan producers, the results are worth the effort. Not just for the taste and texture of the cheese, but also for the health of the cows, the community, and the environment. We had some great audience member questions—shout out to those of you asking about pasturage, breeds, and other ag related questions, cheesemakers love nerding out over that kind of stuff!
After lunch, we tasted six different batches of Pleasant Ridge Reserve side-by-side: May 23rd, 24th, 29th, June 5th, 6th, and 19th. What’s unique about this experience is that it’s one of the best ways to really appreciate the differences in this cheese. It’s like drinking several vintages of the same wine one after another, except with cheese every day is a vintage! The room fell silent as we nibbled on the cheeses, scribbling notes, talking amongst our respective tables and huddles as each person voted for their top two batches. The ballots were collected and in the last few minutes we had our tally to announce our two winners!
There was an anxious excitement at first—what if we disagreed with our customers over what was good and what wasn’t? But luckily, our staff and customers were in agreement with an overwhelming consensus.The winners were May 23rd and May 29th, two very different batches of cheese! May 23rd has a bright, yogurty tang to it, with a moist, juicy texture, while May 29th was drier and firmer, with a complex meaty note that reminds us of cured meats, like prosciutto. We have to take into account how these wheels of cheese will age over time, and our batches tend to last through the summer for the first batch, and then through the Holidays for the second batch, so it’s critical we get this right! We’ll be starting with our May 29th batch as it’s the most flavorful right now and the May 23rd batch has better aging potential.
Later that evening, some of the staff met up with Andy and Eric at the Bull’s Horn for some beers, cheese curds, and to catch up on the season. Andy is a talented musician, so he couldn’t pass up the chance to go see one of our staff members playing that night at Turf Club. She gave Uplands a shout out on stage!
Andy and Eric were incredibly gracious with their time, and we can’t thank them enough for how much this relationship means to the shop. Pleasant Ridge Reserve is a special cheese for us. It’s been in our case since our doors opened. We’d also like to thank those of you who attended our batch selection this year and made it such a memorable occasion and success!
To celebrate, we’ll be sampling our May 29th batch all weekend long, so stop in to try it and take a wedge home!