The Cave

The cool and humid cave offers ideal conditions for cheese ripening. Soon after the cheeses are made, we bring them to the cheese cave to be salted and ripened. During the 2-6 months ripening process, the cheeses rest on wooden boards and are carefully tended to by The Cave's affineur (French for cheese ripener.) The affineur turns and brushes each wheel every other day until flavor develops to the fullest.

The Vermont Shepherd Cheese Cave is home to over 20,000 lbs a year of our artisanal, farmhouse cheeses. This man-made cave is over 4' underground and is naturally damp and cool, the perfect conditions for cheese ripening!

All of our cheeses are aged on wooden boards, an age-old method that helps in the development of natural cheese rinds. Each day we turn, brush or wash the cheeses to cultivate beautiful, natural cheese rinds. These rinds, free of plastic and wax, help to enhance the cheeses' flavor and give our cheeses their unique characteristics.