WiCell ISSCR 2020 Virtual Cheese Tasting

We all know the best things come from Wisconsin: Beer, cheese and stem cells! To honor our tradition of bringing you all the best of Wisconsin, including the cheese, we are offering our 2020 virtual cheese tasting. While we can’t serve them to you personally this year, we invite and encourage you to seek out these delicious gems, and enjoy a taste of Wisconsin!

Founded in 1978, LaClare Family Creamery in Malone, WI is a true farmstead operation with a foundation rooted in artistry, family values and hard work.  Their painstaking attention to even the smallest details, from breeding the best possible stock, to humane and sustainable herd management practices, to proper milk handling and finally to mastering the art and science of cheese-making has all culminated in their award winning cheeses that you need to taste to truly appreciate.  Highlights of their offerings include Evalon and Cave Aged Chandoka.   

Evalon is a raw goat milk Gouda-style artisan cheese, ripened 5 months.  It has a hint of Italian Asiago flavor and feel and notes of caramel like Parmesan.  It has a rich nutty, creamy, complex flavor.  It grates and shreds well making it a fantastic cooking cheese when young. The increased complexity as it ages makes it an award winning table cheese when mature.  Evalon is a multi-medaled award winner, most recently winning Best of Class at the American Cheese Society awards.  It pairs well with Ciders and fruit beers as well as Stouts and Brown Ales.  Prefer wines?  Try Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot.   

https://www.laclarefamilycreamery.com/

 

 Owners and sweethearts Tony and Julie Hook have been making cheese for more than 45 years.  Julie is a Master Cheesemaker, and to date the only female to win the Word Cheese Championships.  You can purchase their outstanding cheeses directly from them at the Saturday Farmers Market in downtown Madison in any other year.   

Triple Play, a new original cheese from Hook’s Cheese Company​, is an example of the ingenuity and craftsmanship of Wisconsin cheesemakers. This unique offering starts with three different milks—cow, sheep and goat—and then incorporates three different starter cultures to achieve an intriguing flavor profile. With the consistency of a classic white cheddar, Triple Play has a mild, creamy flavor with notes of baby swiss, havarti and gouda.  Aged over a year, it develops the acid crystals that cheese lovers covet.  Already an award winner we shared this special cheese last year in LA for the first time.  It was an ISSCR crowd favorite!  

 http://hookscheese.com/index.html

 Crown Jewel is a special little Wisconsin cheese gone big city!  It is modeled after Roelli Cheese Haus’ Little Mountain,  the 2016 American Cheese Society Best of Show winner from Schullsburg, WI, but aged in a cheese cave in Brooklyn, New York.  Crown Finish Caves adds the particular flavors in its aging cave…formerly used for beer! 

 This cheese has a complex and balanced flavor profile of butterscotch, fresh fruit and buttered toast with an herby and grassy aroma. Aged a minimum of 6 months the texture is sublime and toothsome, reminiscent of chewy toffee.  The Crown Jewel is take on a cheese called Appenzeller, from the Appenzell region of Switzerland.  It’s hard to come by, so if you’d like to grab a taste, we suggest Madison local cheese monger Fromagination for your cheese needs!

https://fromagination.com/product/crown-jewel-cheese/

If all of this doesn’t satisfy your taste for cheese, we highly recommend the Social Distancing Cheese Kit from Fromagination.  Have your own Wisconsin Cheese Tasting at home!   

https://fromagination.com/product/social-distancing-cheese-kit/

We encourage you to make plans now to attend ISSCR/ASGCT Madison International Symposium in September 2021!
We can’t wait to see you there for great science and great (grate) cheese!!