Cheese was front and center at the Vermont Statehouse on Tuesday evening where the Vermont Agency of Agriculture hosted a reception for a delegation of Spanish cheesemakers and agriculture officials. On hand were the owners of Quesos Ibar. Although I don't speak Spanish and they speak no English I was still treated to a wonderful tasting tour of their products. The language barrier did not stop me from appreciating their wonderful array of cheeses.
Vermont Secretary of Agriculture, Roger Allbee and his counterpart from the Basque Region of Spain signed a MOU initiating an ongoing commitment to continue building the relationship between these two distant geographic regions that share an affinity for small-scale farms and great cheese.
Mateo Kehler of Jasper Hill Farm was on hand to share some of their fine cheese. It was a challenging time to get cheesemakers to attend since the American Cheese Society's Annual Conference and Meeting had just concluded in Chicago a few days before. I'm proud to say that Vermont appears on the judge's list of winners a fair number of times!
And the beverages included a great selection of Vermont hard cider and some great wine from a relatively new source in Berlin, VT. Keep an eye out for Deer Tracks Farm wines.