Serious Eats
You Put Your Cheese in There
Well it's only February, and 2008 is already living up to its title as the Year of the Cheese Cave. According to an article in last week's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Fermo Jaeckle, one of the founders of legendary Wisconsin cheese company Roth Käse, has purchased an underground cave that used to be the site of a huge marijuana-growing operation 40 miles northeast of Nashville. Jaeckle, of course, plans to age some serious cheese down there beginning in 2009.
The cave is more than five football fields long, and at 100 feet below the surface of the earth, with stable temperature and humidity, is a perfect place to age cheese. The property was auctioned off last year, and Jaeckle's winning bid was for $285,000, a price he says is well below what he might've paid for it otherwise.
Although Jaeckle's company Roth Käse was not involved in the purchase, it seems likely that at least some of the space will be used to age their signature and award-winning Grand Cru Gruyère. Jaeckle has also kept open the possibility of partnering with area cheese makers as well as wineries and (ahem) mushroom growers, all of whom can benefit from the climate-controlled environment. It will certainly be interesting to see how the space is utilized and marketed. Jaeckle may very well have stumbled upon one of those things that just seems to market itself.
According to the Journal Sentinel, "The cave's former owner, Fred Strunk, is serving 18 years in prison on charges of growing marijuana, money laundering and theft." Here's hoping that Jaeckle's lot proves better.
Photograph of Grand Cru Gruyère from Roth Käse
About the author: Jamie Forrest publishes Curdnerds.com from his apartment in Brooklyn, New York, where he lives with his wife, his daughter, and his cheese.