Hardworking cheesemakers are busy behind the scenes at the state-of-the-art operation at Upper Bench Estate Winery & Creamery in Penticton.
Head cheesemaker Shana Miller has owned the winery with her husband, award-winning winemaker, Gavin Miller, since 2010.
The creamery, located in the back of building, makes eight different, handcrafted, artisan cheeses 鈥� with its mild, blue cheese, called King Cole, being its most well-known, Miller said. This blue cheese was named after her father.
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All of the cheeses, which include washed-rind, brie, and blue cheeses, are gluten and additive free from pasturized Canadian cow鈥檚 milk from D Dutchmen Dairy in Sicamous.
鈥淲e make three batches of cheese a week,鈥� said Miller on Thursday while making a fresh batch of the creamery鈥檚 newest addition, a tangy and sharp-flavoured cheese, Belle Marie.
It鈥檚 made by separating the delicate curds and then placing them spoonful-by-spoonful into the molds. It has a layer of black ash under a 鈥渨hite bloomy rind,鈥� which makes it visually appealing. And it鈥檚 named after her mother.
Carefully crafting best-selling cheeses, adding up to about 6,000 kilograms a year, sounds difficult. But Miller said there鈥檚 a trick to it.
鈥淎fter you鈥檝e made the cheese, you can do different things with it to create different types.
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鈥淥ur two top blue cheeses 鈥� our Grey Baby and King Cole 鈥� it鈥檚 the same exact recipe, but two different techniques.鈥�
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