Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/1472765
T R AV E L 202 2 culturecheesemag.com 57 a good paying job … but after working in the software industry for about five years I really missed the farm." Dan, who was working as a timber framer, was also looking for a change, and with fluid milk prices having dropped, their parents' dairy operation was struggling. "We both had an urge to do something for ourselves and on the farm, and cheesemaking was something that made sense. It was a way to transform the family business and take it to the next generation." Knowing little about cheesemaking, Sebastian sought out Vermont makers to learn from, including Mateo and Andy Kehler at Jasper Hill Farm, who were planning to build their cellars. "The timing was good; they wanted producers to work with and we were the first," says Sebastian of the collaboration for Oma, which has won numerous awards, including Gold at the 2018 World Cheese Awards. Von Trapp Farmstead's other three cheeses—also award winners—age in place, in two vaults on the lower level of the creamer y. Mt. Alice, a bloomy rind wheel, is the youngest, brined and then aged for a minimum of three weeks. Mad River Blue and Savage, the latter a Vermont Alpine-style cheese that Molly describes as "a marriage between a cheddar and a traditional alpine like Comté or Gruyère," are dr y salted. The blue is aged for about three months, and Savage, which is named for Samuel S. Savage, who settled the land in the 1700s, is aged for eight to 12 months. For a small operation to make four styles of cheese is a considerable amount of work, but "we can't give any of them up," says Molly. "Every day has a different flow to it; today I was dry-salting Mad River Blue and Savage that were made on Thursday and Friday. Tomorrow we'll be taking care of Oma while wrapping Alice that's just bloomed. People who work with us get a very well- rounded cheese experience." They also get to be part of an enduring legacy. c PHOTOS: Provided by Von Trapp Farmstead Raw milk curds drain in the molds Business and life partners Molly Semler and Sebastian work together in the creamery