The Best Willamette Valley Cheese
It’s no secret that the Willamette Valley is home to some of the best wines in the world. But, did you know that we also have an excellent selection of cheeses as well? Thanks to our abundance of farms, you can easily find fresh cheese in our towns, but it takes a bit more detective work. That’s where we come in. While we love to feature some of our favorite Willamette Valley Cheeses on our cheeseboard, we have some additional tips on how to find the best Willamette Valley cheese to use at home. And remember, if you are craving some delicious cheese and want it ASAP, you’re in luck. We serve our cheeseboard for brunch, lunch, and dinner – basically at any time of the day because cheese is the perfect food!
Local Feta
Feta is a super popular cheese right now and has been selling out of grocery stores nationwide. That’s when it comes in handy to live in an area like the Willamette Valley with an abundance of local cheeses. At Fraga Farmstead Creamery in Gales Creek, organic raw feta is readily available. This tucked-away farm is home to some of the tastiest cheeses you can imagine. Using goat’s milk, their farm store has a variety of cheeses, including plain goat cheese (chevré), farm cheese, and camembert in addition to the feta. For some of the best Willamette Valley Cheese, check out this location for a fun farm day with the added bonus of walking away with everything you need for an epic cheese plate.
Dundee Classic
If you’ve visited Dundee before, you’ve probably heard of Briar Rose Creamery. Right down the street from us, this cow and goat’s milk creamery has some of the most unbelievable cheeses you can imagine. In addition to being the perfect choice to pair with your local Dundee wine, this creamery makes some great cheeses that will surely impress guests. For example, this Fata Morgana is like nothing you can buy in a regular grocery store. If you’ve never checked out this local gem before, put it on your list!
Many Varieties
Fern’s Edge Dairy in Lowell, OR has an interesting selection of Willamette Valley goat’s cheese that will make a diverse cheese board to pair with some local wine. Adding gouda and aged goat cheese to the more common feta and chevré means you can try a variety of different cheese flavors and textures. This Oregon State Grade A certified organic dairy farm has goat’s milk for sale as well. It’s definitely worth the drive to check it out.
Scientific Side
If you are huge cheese fanatics like us, you can take your cheese love a step further and visit the Oregon State creamery located on campus. Here, food science students get to experiment with dairy milk from OSU to create their own cheese. Sounds like a dream come true, right? We would recommend calling before you head over since hours are typically when school is in session. This is a very unique way to try some Willamette Valley Cheese like their Beaver Classic Smoked Cheddar.
There are many options for getting the best Willamette Valley cheese! As always, Trellis serves a wonderful cheeseboard if you don’t want to go through the hassle of tracking down your own cheese. Come visit us today!