Cellars at Jasper Hill Landaff

Landaff is another collaborative effort, like Kinsman Ridge, between cheesemakers Deb and Doug Erb of Landaff, New Hampshire, and the aging Cellars at Jasper Hill in Greensboro, Vermont.

Doug Erb first produced Landaff after working a stage in Somerset, England, with a Caerphilly cheesemaker, then and a stint studying at the Vermont Institute for Artisanal Cheese at the University of Vermont.

The result is a Tomme-style, raw milk cheese, styled after Welsh farmhouse cheeses, whose nine-pound wheels age from four to six months. The cheese’s natural rind is dusty taupe and smells of leaf mold and dried mushrooms. The paste is a bright and crumbly, yielding the scent of asparagus, hay, and cultured cream. The texture is slightly grainy, but the flavors blooms open with a sharp, pungent earthiness. The finish is rich and buttery.

Pairing Wine with Landaff

This cheese needs a wine with both fruit and acid. For reds, try New World Pinot Noir, especially from a cool climate, including the Finger Lakes and Oregon in the U.S. and Austria, Germany, and Patagonia abroad. Barbera, Beaujolais-Villages, and Chinon also work well.

For white wines, seek options with solid acidity but also buttery notes and a kiss of oak, which will tie the wine to the richness of the cheese. Good examples include Meursault, Pouilly-Fuissé, or oaked Chardonnay from Oregon or the cooler regions of the California coastline.

Cellars at Jasper Hill Landaff

$19/lb.

Landaff Creamery, Landaff, New Hampshire
Cellars at Jasper Hill, Greensboro, Vermont