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<\/a>\u00a0We’re doing a bit of catching up here at the Driftless Appetite.\u00a0 Here is part two of our southwest Wisconsin cheese tour last October sponsored by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board<\/a>.\u00a0 (See part\u00a0one here<\/a>.)\u00a0 We got the chance to visit Willi Lehner, a Swiss-American cheesemaker\u00a0at Bleu Mont Dairy<\/a> in the small village of Blue Mounds.\u00a0 He\u00a0started\u00a0to learn\u00a0about the art of cheesemaking from his father\u00a0before he was even ten years old.\u00a0\u00a0Later on, he\u00a0learned cheesemaking in Switzerland as well as in the UK.\u00a0 He is also\u00a0an affineur,\u00a0<\/em>an\u00a0expert in the art of aging or maturing cheeses, specializing in aging clothbound cheddar<\/a>.\u00a0 Several years ago, he built an underground cheese cave that is the envy of\u00a0many if not all the\u00a0cheese afficionados in the area.<\/p>\n The first thing I noticed right\u00a0after we got off the bus were the large solar panels\u00a0at one end of the property then\u00a0a windmill toward the other end.\u00a0 Another structure of note was the in-ground greenhouse with a sod roof.\u00a0 We found Willi standing outside his house with a cup of something warm in hand, ready to give us the grand tour.\u00a0 As\u00a0he\u00a0addressed our group, a couple of sweet kitty cats stole some of our attention while the family dog tried to take over the tour, urging us to come along toward the pi\u00e8ce de r\u00e9sistance,\u00a0<\/em>the underground\u00a0cave.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Cave’s Entrance<\/em><\/p>\n We were asked to take off our shoes before entering the cave.\u00a0 The\u00a0air was incredibly delicious.\u00a0 The aging room had\u00a0a golden glow.\u00a0 Row after row of huge cheese wheels rested on shelves.\u00a0 It was marvelous.\u00a0 Being in the cave made me feel really greedy, like someone discovering a pile of gold.\u00a0 I did imagine for awhile that I was smuggling\u00a0one of the cheese wheels but\u00a0I couldn’t come up with an explanation as to why I suddenly had\u00a0a 40 lb. belly bump.\u00a0 I noticed that the shelves and the\u00a0floor had some\u00a0powdery white\u00a0substance on it.\u00a0 It was good timing that I had finally stopped daydreaming because Willi was about to explain what it was.\u00a0 The substance was diatomaceous earth<\/a>, a mixture of sedimentary rock and some fossilized algae, used to prevent cheese mites from damaging the cheese.\u00a0 My socks pick up some of it and after having spent the rest of the day wearing my boots, my feet imparted the scent I called\u00a0Eau De Cheese Cave<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Glorious Cave<\/em><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Outside the cave, in the bright sun and crisp autumn temperature, we sampled some of\u00a0the exquisite bandaged wrapped Cheddar and a\u00a0luscious\u00a0new cheese called Alpine Renegade made from Uplands Cheese Company’s<\/a> milk.\u00a0 It was not a bad way at all to be spending the day.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/driftlessappetite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/01\/bleumontcave.jpg\" "\\"bleumontcave\\"")
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