Like many small artisnal and agriculturally focused farms in American, Pleasant Ridge places a great amount of effort and pride into the quality of cheese they produce. The dairy farm, located in southwest Wisconsin makes their cheese with the same technique you would find being poured into Alpine cheeses like Gruyere and Beaufort.
The Pleasant Ridge Reserve is a superior batch of cheese, only made between May and October, when the cows are eating from fresh green pastures. It’s a mixture of the higher quality feed and the choice to leave the milk raw that creates such a distinct flavor, impossible to duplicate under lesser circumstances.
All of the cheese is aged in ripening rooms and washed several times a week with brine. The combination of washed rind, along with the bacteria already present in the raw milk, slowly develops into a deep and complex flavor.
There is no minimum amount of time the cheese is aged for, instead laborious amounts of testing goes into determining when each batch has reached its individual peak.
Each year, the small batch of Reserve cheese is set aside and allowed to ripen for over a year. This extra aged variety is only available in the fall but is well worth the wait.
Upon receipt of your order the ice pack may no longer be frozen. This is expected and should not be the cause of alarm. The cheese should be cool to room temperature. Once rewrapped and stored properly the cheese will last up to 3 weeks.
For optimal storage allowing the cheese to breathe and retain moisture wrap the cheese in wax paper, plastic wrap or tin foil upon arrival.
A - Bloomy rind, tomes, hard or dry rind cheeses - wrap only the cut surface in plastic wrap, leaving the rind exposed so the cheese can breathe.
B - Blue cheeses should be wrapped securely in tin foil.
C - Washed rind cheeses should be wrapped in wax paper.
D - Small cheeses such as goat’s milk crottin should be wrapped in wax paper.
E - Soft cheeses store well in waxed paper or sealed containers.
Store your cheese in a cool, damp place such as a wine cellar, larder, wine cabinet, or in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator (the warmest part of the refrigerator).
As a general rule, aged hard cheeses last longer than softer, less aged varieties.
For the fullest flavor it is recommended to bring cheese to room temperature before serving.
* See cheese label for proper storage recommendations
To ensure product quality all cheese will ship overnight May 1 through October 1 due to warm summer temperatures.
October through May all cheese will ship 2nd Day, with an Overnight option available at an additional charge.
