Uplands Cheese Company is owned and operated by two families: Mike and Carol Gingrich and Dan and Jeanne Patenaude. Our farm/creamery is located in an area of southwest Wisconsin that was mysteriously missed by the glaciers in the last glaciation of North America, so it is characterized by rolling hills and limestone outcroppings and known locally as "The Uplands". The land was oak savanna at the time of European settlement, having been home to meandering bison herds for eons, and is an ideal habitat for grazing ruminants.
We manage our farm using traditional practices that have been largely discarded by our industrial agricultural system today. Our cows graze lush pastures from May through October and they all have their calves in the spring, producing milk until winter when they go dry to build body reserves for the next year's calf. Cows evolved this way however today's cows are nearly all kept in confinement and fed machine harvested feeds scientifically blended to yield the maximum amount of milk. We prefer our more natural traditional methods because we feel it is easier on the land and the animals (including the farmers). It also results in more flavorful and nutritious milk that makes wonderful cheese flavors.
We make one, and only one cheese: Pleasant Ridge Reserve a raw milk cheese made on our farm from the milk of our cows. It is a seasonal cheese made only from May through October when the cows are able to get all of their forage from fresh pasture grasses and clovers. We get much more intense and complex cheese flavors from this pasture-fed milk. Pleasant Ridge Reserve is then aged in caves and washed with brine and cultures at least twice weekly to develop its unique flavor profile. It is sold at ages ranging from 4 to 24 months.
Pleasant Ridge Reserve was selected "Best of Show" at both the 2001 and 2005 American Cheese Society competition and was "U.S. Champion" at the 2003 WCMA U.S. Championship competition. It is the only cheese to receive the ACS "Best of Show" twice and the only cheese to win both national competitions.
Pleasant Ridge Reserve is an American original cheese inspired by farmstead cheeses from the alpine provinces of southeastern France. It is the end product of a process linked to the life cycles of our animals as well as the prairie soils and climate of southwest Wisconsin. It is our objective to produce a nutritious, flavorful product slowly, deliberately and with pride.
Please visit us on the web at http://www.uplandscheese.com/
