Butler Farms cheese, Whitehall Wisconsin

I had the pleasure of eating and shopping my way through the Madison farmers market this past Saturday. There are probably 20 cheese makers, many of whom offer fairly pedestrian stuff. There are, however, at least half a dozen artisanal cheese makers with very interesting items. There are large numbers of truly fine chesse makers working in Wisconsin these days.

Butler Farms offers sheeps milk cheese, some all sheeps milk, some a cow/sheep combination. We purchased an aged Tomme and a brie like cheese, the name of which I've forgotten. Both were truly outstanding, the brie like cheese, in particular, being the best "brie" I've had in years. It oozed on being cut and had a rich yet mild flavor. I thought both cheeses could be served in the best restaurants in Madison and Chicago.

Unfortunately, I can't say where you can get these cheeses or where they are sold, but here is a bit of information: http://www.eatwisconsincheese.com/wisconsin/artisans/Results.aspx?artisan=16 Just something to keep an eye out for.

Jonah