CDR Helps Bring an Alpine-Style Cheese to Wisconsin
In 2015, Orphee Paillotin, owner of Alpinage Cheese, moved to Wisconsin from France and was surprised that he couldn’t find some of the cheeses that he loved in his home country.
“I had a hard time finding Raclette cheese,” he said. “So, we decided no one is doing this cheese here, let’s focus on this.”
Raclette is an Alpine-style, smear-ripened cheese, popular in Europe where it is used as a melting cheese, typically served over potatoes, cornichons, and cured meat. By coincidence, Paillotin also met Paula Heimerl, whose family started and owned Saxon Creamery, which produces European-style, aged cheeses (Heimerl’s family retired and sold Saxon Creamery in 2014). She missed working in the dairy industry and was eager to start a new venture into dairy.
“When I met Orphee, we were basically grooming him to be a cheesemaker,” Heimerl says with a laugh. “I was working on him to do something with cheese because I wanted to do something with cheese.”
Paillotin and Heimerl, co-founded Alpinage Cheese with the goal of making raw-milk, cave-aged Raclette cheese in Wisconsin.
“We’re trying to make cheese that you buy from Europe,” Paillotin said. “Why do you buy cheese from Europe when you have unlimited milk here in Wisconsin?”
However, starting a cheese company is very difficult. It was a challenge to get the various permits and licensing, find a space to make and age the cheese, and get the necessary funding and equipment to start the company. In addition, Paillotin was not a cheesemaker. So, he turned to the Center for Dairy Research (CDR) and attended the necessary classes and trainings to become a licensed Wisconsin cheesemaker. At CDR, he also worked with Andy Johnson, who helped him develop a cheesemake to produce the high quality Raclette cheese to the specifications and flavor profile that he had in mind.
“Orphee is really passionate about cheesemaking and he came at it from a new angle,” Johnson said. “He didn’t have any preconceived notions and he has an attitude that anything is possible.”
Next was finding a place to make the cheese. Adding to the challenge was that Paillotin wanted to make a raw milk Raclette, “I wanted to use raw milk not just to differentiate myself but also to make cheese with unique flavor. Finding a place to make cheese is difficult and finding a place to make cheese with raw milk is even more difficult. We found a place that is up for the challenge.”
CDR was able to help connect Paillotin and Heimerl with Pagel’s Ponderosa Dairy, a family farm with a farmstead cheesemaking facility in Northeast Wisconsin. They work closely with Ben Shibler, who is the head cheesemaker and manager at Pagel’s Ponderosa Dairy. Paillotin said that making the cheese there works very well. When they make their cheese, the milk is so fresh that it is still warm.
“We pour it in vat and start working on it right there,” Paillotin said. “For freshness you cannot get better.”
Alpinage Cheese ages its cheese in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, just south of Milwaukee. With some guidance from CDR and Paula’s father, Gerald Heimerl, they built a licensed cheese cave within a business space. They fitted their cave with plastic paneling on the walls and ceiling so they can easily wash the room. For temperature control, they installed a modified air conditioning unit fitted with a temperature microcontroller that keeps the cave at precisely 53-54°F. The fan on the air conditioning unit is turned off to avoid blowing air but the room has air flow to remove the ammonia that smear-ripened age cheese produces. They also add water to the room to keep the humidity at about 95%.
In addition, aging the cheese in Oak Creek makes sense as Paillotin and Heimerl live in Milwaukee and primarily sell and market the cheese in the Milwaukee area through retailers and some farmer’s markets.
Finally, in September 2021, three years after the initial planning and creation of the company, Alpinage Cheese released and sold its first wedges of cheese. Feedback has been positive, “People were very surprised to find Raclette Cheese here made in the U.S.”
They make and age the cheese using traditional methods. In addition to using raw milk, they age the cheese on wooden boards, which supports flavor development in the cheese and helps maintain humidity levels in the cave.
Aging the cheese is a very hands-on process. When the cheese first arrives in the cave, it sits briefly which allows it to dry a little since it has just come out of the brine bath. But then Heimerl, who, among other tasks, works as the company’s affineur, begins the process of washing and flipping the cheeses. They are washed and flipped for about 2-3 weeks, then, once they have developed a natural rind, the cheese ages in the cave for about 3 months to develop flavor. With each batch of cheese, they continue to fine tune and tweak their recipe to dial in the proper flavor profile, composition and body.
Not only do Paillotin and Heimerl take great care in the cheesemaking and aging process, they have also built a brand and trademark to sell and market their cheese. Alpinage Cheese produces and sells their cheese as Mount Raclette®. Currently, they offer classic and mild options. The mild or summer Raclette has a sweet and fruity flavor profile and the classic has a deeper earthier flavor. Unlike the Raclette cheeses typically found in Europe the Mount Raclette® cheese is also a good table cheese.
In addition to helping Alpinage Cheese develop its cheeses, CDR has also helped Alpinage Cheese secure grants. Alpinage Cheese has received an equipment grant from TURBO, CDR’s business development program, as well as two grants from the Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA), which is operated in partnership by CDR and the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association.
Paillotin said the support they have received from TURBO and DBIA has been crucial to the company’s development and growth. For instance, the grants have funded the purchase of specialized, microperforated cheese molds, which will allow Alpinage Cheese to triple their cheesemaking capacity.
Looking ahead, Paillotin and Heimerl are developing smaller format cheeses. One challenge is that they spend a lot of time cutting and packaging their Mount Raclette® cheeses. A smaller format would allow the cheese to be sold as is with minimal processing and handling. One cheese they want to develop is a mini Raclette. They are also looking at producing another smaller format cheese that will be a smeared cheese made with whole milk.
Overall, they are excited for what’s ahead. “So far so good,” Paillotin said. “We have good feedback with our cheese. I think it’s going to work out. We really feel that there is something special here.”
For more information about Alpinage Cheese, visit www.alpinagecheese.com.
This article originally appeared in the Summer 2022 issue of the Dairy Pipeline.