Barossa Valley: Cheese for All That Wine!

Recently I took a trip from the Australian state of Victoria, to South Australia and stopped in a quaint town called Angaston, the hub of The Barossa Valley.The Barossa Valley is the most famous wine-region in Australia, boasting thousands of acres of vineyards and some of the best wineries in the country- and where there is wine, there will be cheese! 

The garden-side store-front of
The Barossa Valley Cheese Company

I wanted to visit a relatively new family business, called The Barossa Valley Cheese Company (BVCC). It may be small, but it has just been acknowledged in a big way. Among several other awards, owner, operator and artisan cheese-maker, Victoria McClurg has been recognized with the Family Business Association Entrepreneur Award of the Year by Family Business Australia. 
Victoria's mother, and co-worker, Frances McClurg was at the BVCC the day I arrived. She remembers the days when making cheese was an interesting experiment at home. Since then the family endeavor has grown to find its place in the valley. She thoughtfully took time out of her day to give me a tour of the facility, while offering samples of a few of the new cheeses, including the new Barossa Geo.  She explained the basic principles about sanitation, cultures and bacteria and shared some information about cheese-making.

Frances showing me around the facility and the garden where
 fresh herbs supply flavour for BVCC's home-made chutneys.

While there, Frances was listening attentively to the radio, because that day, Victoria was being interviewed about the BVCC and her latest award. Listening in with Frances, I found out that Victoria was a wine-maker turned cheese-maker, seemingly a match made in heaven. She described herself as a "purist", who preferred to produce pure cheeses, using nuts, spices and fruits only as compliments on the side.



Interesting Facts
The Barossa Valley Cheese Company:

• produces 14 types of artisan, hand-made cheese
• uses a variety of milks, from cows to goats, almost all of which is sourced locally 
• yields roughly 20% of a liter of milk into cheese (depending on the time of year and what grasses the animals are eating at the time. The rest is disposed as water/whey)
• recycles left-over whey to to local farmers who use it as animal feed, or as a foliar- spray to protect the crop from diseases such as powdery mildew
• uses Geotrichum bacteria to cultivate the new Barossa Geo cheese
• is undertaking a new project, growing cheese cultures under the sea

To learn more about the company visit: The Barossa Valley Cheese Company
To learn about cheese production: visit their blog: Barossa Cheese Blog
Want to taste the best of the Barossa?: Cheese & Wine Trail

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