Thanksgiving Preorder: Uplands Cheese | Pleasant Ridge Reserve

Uplands Cheese Company makes some of the most beautiful American cheeses to date. Based in Dodgeville, Wisconsin, their impressively small team goes to amazing lengths, milking their cows seasonally and perfecting two cheeses, Pleasant Ridge Reserve and seasonal Rush Creek Reserve, only available on our site from late Fall through early Winter.

Pleasant Ridge Reserve is modeled after French Beaufort, but it is its own form of delicious. Made solely with milk from cows grazing lush, fresh summer grass, it is sweet and grassy, with a powerfully complex aroma of bread and light-bodied honey, tasting of buttery hazelnut and cremini mushrooms, and delicate protein crystals in the texture.

We'll include literature on storing, serving, and pairing the cheese.

One pound fits in the Cheese Grotto Classico and the Cheese Grotto Fresco and will keep for two months in the refrigerator if well maintained.

• Your shipping charge is based on your ZIP code.

• This is a Thanksgiving preorder item.  For Thanksgiving delivery, order by Friday, November 20th.  All cheese orders ship via Two-Day.

• Please visit our shipping policy page for additional questions.

Uplands Cheese is owned and operated by two families, Andy and Caitlin Hatch and Scott and Liana Mericka, who bought the farm in 2014 from founders Mike Gingrich and Dan Patenaude, under whom Andy and Scott had apprenticed. The founding families had purchased the Pleasant Ridge farm in 1994 to combine their herds in a seasonal, pasture-based system, building on Dan and Jeanne's early adoption of rotational grazing. The diverse pastures of the Wisconsin Uplands produced exceptionally flavorful milk, which led the founders to the Alpine tradition of aged cheeses made from summer-grazed cows. In 2000, working with local cheese makers and the Center for Dairy Research, they developed their own version of those recipes, and Pleasant Ridge Reserve is still made only from fresh, raw, grass-fed milk during the grazing season. Andy, who studied dairy science and apprenticed under a master cheesemaker, joined in 2007, and Scott, who studied agronomy and grass-based dairying, joined in 2010. Both rose from apprentices to managers to owners, with Scott now running the barn and Andy the creamery.

Pair Pleasant Ridge Reserve with a fruit-forward cabernet sauvignon, pear and apple slices, rosemary herb bread, and dried cranberries. For dessert, pair with a sweet dessert wine and chocolate-covered cherries.

Location: Dodgeville, Wisconsin
Rennet Type: Animal
Farmstead/Specialty/Artisan: Farmstead
Age: 7-14 months
Milk: Raw Cow Milk