Tastemakers: Leelanau Cheese Aged Raclette/ From the vine: exploring Michigan wineries

Oct. 2, 2007

Leelanau Cheese Aged Raclette

At the Epicurean Classic this year, the standing-room only cheese classes offered by Laura Werlin (author of Cheese Essentials) were certainly among the highlights. Werlin’s enthusiastic approach to cheese as a stand-alone culinary pursuit versus its usual role as a condiment for sandwiches and salads or generic chunk cheese platters at cocktail parties was well received by audiences. Her eyes widened as she spoke with passion about the Leelanau Cheese Aged Raclette that was served in her sessions.
A month earlier, the cheese, made in Suttons Bay by John and Anne Hoyt, was named “Best Cheese in America” at the American Cheese Society’s annual competition that featured more than 1,200 entries; it received a rare perfect score of 100 from the judges. Werlin let session attendees know that “the Aged Raclette was among the best cheeses in the world” and in her opinion certainly “the best Raclette in the world.” That’s saying something, considering all of the great Raclettes made in France and the Swiss Alps.
I remember meeting John Hoyt 17 years ago as he shared his cheesemaking vision in hopes of finding investors to make it a reality. The Hoyts are now in the 12th year of living out their dream, with their small creamery operation housed at Black Star Farms. Because of production demands, the Hoyts were unable to attend the conference and awards ceremony.
The secret of their success? Using cows’ milk from the Garvin farm near Cedar is part of it. But I think the real secret is that John and Anne are great people, like so many who live here in the North Country; passionate about what they do and where they live. The Hoyts are hands-on owners; they work long hours every day, and now they are reaping the benefits.
Their Aged Raclette (aged for at least nine months in their cheese cave) is a hard commodity to find these days; in fact so is there regular Raclette. But if you are able to find either (try Black Star Farms Winery), enjoy it sliced or cubed with local Rieslings or Gewürztraminers. It’s also great for making fondues. A few years ago, winemaker Bryan Ulbrich (now proprietor of Left Foot Charlie) won “Best White Wine in the World” at the San Francisco International Wine Competition with his Peninsula Cellars Semi-Dry Riesling. Hmm; and now someone else from Up North has the best cheese in North America. There is something good going on around here and we are going to taste and sip our way around Northern Michigan to figure it out. Congratulations to John and Anne; for more, check out www.leelanaucheese.com



From the Vine:
Exploring Michigan Wineries

When I met Sharon Kegerreis and Lorri Hathaway on the Leelanau Peninsula wine trail in 2002, they shared their vision of creating a company to promote the Michigan wine country. In 2003, they launched Michigan Vine at a well-attended inaugural wine dinner at Shady Lanes Cellars near Suttons Bay. At the dinner the two spoke of their aspiration of sharing the pleasures of Michigan wines and the countryside tasting room destinations with the world (or at least with the Midwest.)
They launched a website, hosted several “Unwind” events at restaurants and wineries, and have literally “stomped” their way around the state as tireless non-paid promoters of Michigan’s growing wine industry. Both are marketing and writing gurus who grew up in Northern Michigan and felt that the Michigan wine industry story needed to be told. They envisioned a book that would capture the history, the characters, and the destinations that make Michigan wine country special. Previous books have fallen short, have been filled with inaccuracies (one book claimed that Leelanau Peninsula had 211,000 acres of grapes; the actual number is around 1,200) and failed to capture the magic and mystic of the Michigan wines, those who make them and the beauty of the various wine regions.
From the Vine: Exploring Michigan Wineries succeeds where all others have failed before. Kegerreis and Hathaway capture the romance of Michigan’s four wine trails and the wineries that are “beyond the trails,” too. While Michigan is making world-class, award winning wines, the “characters” (they refer to them as personalities) are equally important to the industry’s success, and the authors capture this important element as well. The book is being released this week at two book signings: October 6th from 12 pm to 5 pm at Chateau Chantal, and October 7 at Left Foot Charlie from 12 pm to 5 pm. Next week, you can catch them at Charlevoix’s Applefest. For additional information, check out
www.michiganvine.com.