Two weeks ago I was thrilled to find my Saturday interrupted by an e-mail from Premier Cheese Market announcing that after three years on a waiting list, it had finally received its first shipment of Pholia Farm cheeses. Pholia Farm’s Elk Mountain cheese is on the Wine Spectator list, but I hadn’t been able to find it in Minneapolis up to that time, so I rushed over to the shop right after my son woke up from his nap and grabbed my wedge before someone else did.
And I’m extremely glad I did! Ken let me sample all of the Pholia Farm goat’s-milk cheeses he had on hand, including the sumptuous Wimer Winter, but Elk Mountain was a stand-out as well. A raw-milk, aged cheese, its rind is washed with ale from the neighboring Wild River Brewery, and the Nigerian Dwarf goats are also fed the spent grain from the brewery, giving the cheeses a nutty, hoppy aroma and taste. Elk Mountain is a great snacking cheese – the cheesemaker recommends pairing it with fig and pear preserves – and is complemented by Viognier, Syrah, Champagne and full-bodied ales.
Fun fact: Pholia Farm is located in the same Rogue River valley that is home to Rogue Creamery, one of Colleen’s favorite homestate cheesemakers. Do I predict an Oregon cheese crawl in our future?
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OMG the Wine Spectator has a cheese list? And cheese has waiting lists? And the Nigerian goats eat brewery grain? I have to sit down.
Ooooh. I love Elk Mountain. Easily one of the best goat cheeses around. So glad you finally got some. What is this waiting list? I know that last year Wine Spectator has a list of their best cheeses, did they do another?
No, the waiting list was for retailers to purchase the Elk Mountain. My cheesemonger at Premier Cheese Market, Ken, said he was on a waiting list for three years to get some of Pholia Farm’s cheeses. It was worth the wait, in my opinion!
The Wine Spectator 100 great cheeses list, upon which this blog is based, came out last September. We recently did an interview with Owen Dugan, the editor at Wine Spectator who put together the feature – you can read it at http://cheeseandchampagne.com/2009/03/30/winespectator/.
This is Gianaclis, the cheesemaker for Elk Mtn. I am really glad that we were finally able to get some cheese to Ken and all you good people in MN. We didn’t want to make him wait 3 years, we just don’t make enough cheese for the demand, our goats are too important, we never want to shortchange their care for higher production.
Anyway, I have enjoyed reading this blog and your comments.
Oh, I am shipping cheese to Premier market tomorrow, Ken will be getting some of our cheese that rarely leaves the state of Oregon, it is called Covered Bridge.
Gianaclis
Hi Gianclis! Thanks for stopping by – and for getting Ken some cheese. I really enjoyed tasting all of the cheeses (he’s very generous with samples), and now I’ll be sure to stop by again to get some Covered Bridge.
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