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Cheese from United States — Vermont

Winnimere

A raw-milk cheese made from the milk of hay-fed Ayrshire cows, produced only from November to April. Each wheel is wrapped in a strip of spruce bark and regularly brushed with a cultured salt brine during about two months of maturation. The ripe interior is smooth and almost soup-like, and the cheese can be eaten with a spoon.

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe maker gives no amounts in the sources used here; each wheel weighs 13 oz.
Raw winter cow milk from hay-fed Ayrshire cows[culture-winnimere]
Animal rennetCulture lists the rennet as animal[culture-winnimere]
Salt, as a cultured brine for washing[culture-winnimere]
A strip of spruce bark cut from trees on the farm's land[culture-winnimere]

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Animal rennet sets the rich raw winter milk

Step 1 of 5
Set the winter milk with rennet
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Made only from November to April, when the cows give rich, hay-fed milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

A raw-milk cheese made from the milk of hay-fed Ayrshire cows, produced only from November to April. Each wheel is wrapped in a strip of spruce bark and regularly brushed with a cultured salt brine during about two months of maturation. The ripe interior is smooth and almost soup-like, and the cheese can be eaten with a spoon. Made in 5 steps over 2 months. The longest step, mature until spoonable, takes 2 months (culture magazine).

Key numbers
Main step2 monthsReported[culture-winnimere]Mature until spoonable

What makes this one different

Winnimere is inspired by Alpine cheeses such as Vacherin Mont d'Or. It is made only in winter, wrapped in spruce bark and brushed with a cultured salt brine.

Milk
Raw cow milk from hay-fed Ayrshire cows; made only from November to April
Ripening
About two months of maturation
Legal minimum cure
US rules require a soft ripened cheese made from unpasteurised milk to be cured at not less than 35 °F for not less than 60 days

Related ferments

Safety

Under the US standard of identity for soft ripened cheeses, a cheese made from unpasteurised milk must be cured at not less than 35 °F for not less than 60 days. That rule is not a guarantee. FDA testing of raw-milk cheeses aged 60 days found Listeria monocytogenes in nearly 1 % of semi-soft cheeses, and the agency calls it a continuing concern. ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity to avoid raw-milk cheeses other than cooked pressed ones such as Gruyère or Comté.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Named for a corner of Caspian Lake. The brothers Andy and Mateo Kehler bought Jasper Hill Farm in 1998 and acquired their first 15 Ayrshire heifers in 2003. In July 2026 Winnimere was named Best of Show among more than 1,600 entries at the American Cheese Society competition.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
Temperature, salt and pH
The sources we found give no temperature, salt or pH figure for any of its steps.
  1. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov
  2. [fda-rawcheese] US FDA, Microbiological Surveillance Sampling, FY14-16 Raw Milk Cheese Aged 60 Daysgov
  3. [culture-winnimere] culture magazine, Winnimere (cheese library entry; Jasper Hill Farm, Vermont)web
  4. [acs-bos2026] American Cheese Society, 8 July 2026, Jasper Hill Farm's 'Winnimere' named Best of Show at the 2026 Judging & Competition (press release)web
  5. [cfr-133-182] US Code of Federal Regulations, 21 CFR 133.182, Soft ripened cheeses (eCFR; read through the eCFR API)gov