High Valley Wine & Cheese Co.

High Valley Wine & Cheese, Mudgee

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The Cheese Factory
At 20 years of age, Emily Birkinhead see's her position as cheesemaker at High Valley as a great opportunity to gain experience and recognition. She started out as assistant to the Head Cheesemaker at Charles Sturt University, Wagga while studying for a Food Science Degree - and has become passionate about cheesemaking. Over a period of time, Emily looks forward to creating some new cheese varieties under the High Valley label, incorporating local produce along the way. Cheesemaking is an ancient art originating in the Middle East around 5000 years ago. Until fairly recently cheese was the only way to preserve the precious protein and cream in milk and was originally made only with sheep and goats milk. As a preservation process it generally starts with acidification and dehydration of the milk.
	Originally raw milk was left warm and this allowed the bacterial cultures present in the milk to consume the sugar (lactose) and turn it into lactic acid. The same process will occur if you leave milk out of the fridge or even in the fridge for too long! In modern cheesemaking we add specific cultures to the milk that have been carefully selected to produce the flavours we require. Dehydration makes cheese a more stable product to store and is achieved by draining the whey from the curds often with the assistance of a naturally occurring enzyme known as rennet. Originally rennet was extracted from the stomach lining of lambs, kids or calves. These days our rennet is produced in the laboratory and since no animals are slaughtered to produce the cheese you will see the rennet listed on the ingredients label as ‘non animal rennet’ or ‘vegetarian rennet’. Most cheeses are salted either by immersing them in a brine solution or by rubbing salt onto the outside of the cheese. Salt is an important part of the preservation process and also plays an integral part in flavour of most cheeses.
Some cheeses also have a rind culture grown on the outside of the cheese after it is salted and dried off. The most well known of these is the Penecillum white mould that grows on the outside of brie and camembert. Not only does this mould slowly soften the curd and develop the rich mushroom notes for which these cheeses are known, it also protects the outside of the cheese from infections which could cause ‘off flavours’ or food safety concerns. Cheesemaking is a complex process and small variations in technique can result in marked changes in the finished product. The idea of watching the cheese being made is not a new concept to Stefan as the factory in Puhoi, New Zealand, had windows so that cafe patrons could watch the cheesemaker in action. Stefan usually makes the cheese on Mondays and Tuesdays if you wish to see him. The rest of his week is made up with packing the products and keeping the plant clean and up to standard.
The 135m² cheese plant is located on the western side of the courtyard and has been specifically designed to allow visitors to get a feel for the cheesemaking process. Two huge windows into the make room and one each into two of the maturing rooms allow visitors to watch the milk being pasteurised and curdled, the cheeses draining and brining and the mould coats growing on the newly made cheeses. The plant is designed to handle 1000lt of milk per batch. The milk is pasteurised and set in the one vat then cut and stirred by hand until curd has reached the deserved consistency. It is then ‘hooped’ and pressed overnight before being salted in a brine solution. There are three maturing rooms available all running at different temperatures which allows the cheeses to develop their mould coats and to gradually develop their full flavour profile. Whilst the first cheese was produced in April of 2005, more cheeses are constantly being developed in the High Valley cheeseplant. Currently we are making Fetta and Brie, with the introduction of some Blue cheese into the High Valley selection. In the more distant future there is the chance to introduce some hard cheeses, as well as some cream products such as Mascarpone and Creme Fraiche. You can book a tasting & talking session with High Valley Wine & Cheese Co. In groups of between twelve and 50, for a small fee you will not only get to taste some fabulous products but you will also gain a great insight into the grape growing and cheesemaking processes.