Jasper Hill Farm

Greensboro, Vermont

The Cellars at Jasper Hill Farm is the result of a perfect storm between two ambitious brothers, Cabot Creamery, and an award-winning wheel of cheese. Brothers Andy and Mateo Kehler decided to start a business in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom because their family had ties to the land there for over 100 years, summering at nearby Caspian Lake. They wanted to create a sustainable agricultural business that would revive the working landscape of Vermont, which was being decimated by big dairy farms and industrial agriculture. They bought 'the old Jasper Hill Farm' in 1998, and worked for five years to restore the barn, start a herd of Ayrshire dairy cows, and build a creamery. They began making cheese in 2003 and instantly met with much acclaim, but it was a call from Cabot Creamery that would change everything.

Cabot Creamery heard of Jasper Hill Farm's success in the artisan cheese world - a world that they wanted to get into, but were having trouble reaching due to the fact that none of their cheese aging facilities had the capacity to age a British-style bandaged cheddar that they longed to make. They shipped a few test wheels to Jasper Hill Farm, and the Kehler brothers aged them for over a year before sending an entry to the American Cheese Society competition. Cabot Clothbound Cheddar won 'Best in Show' that year, and the Kehlers returned to the farm determined to find a way to expand the production of this newly crowned wunder-cheese.

The idea they hit upon was the Cellars at Jasper Hill Farm - a 22,000 square foot aging facility with seven different temperature and humidity controlled vaults dug into the hillside next to the creamery and farm. By building the Cellars, they could age and sell infinitely more Cabot Clothbound Cheddar AND allow new artisan cheesemakers to get into the game by aging cheese for them as well. More than 70% of the labor in making cheese goes into the aging of it, and by easing that burden for cheesemakers, they allowed their partner creameries to focus on what matters most - animal health, quality milk, and great cheesemaking techniques. In addition to aging cheeses from Jasper Hill Farm and Cabot Creamery, the Cellars now ages cheese from four other creameries.