Portrait of the Artisan

Mateo Kehler, a carpenter with serious wanderlust, spent his 20s “swinging a hammer and traveling the world.” Making Cheddar in his hometown of Greensboro, Vermont, was not exactly top of mind. But when he fell in love and married, things changed. In 1997 he and his wife moved back to Greensboro and, with Mateo’s brother Andy, purchased an old farm called Jasper Hill. They knew they wanted to make cheese, but—small problem—they had no cheese-making experience. So in 1998 the Kehlers set off for Neal’s Yard Dairy, in London, and learned the crucial process of farmstead-cheese aging. “In the cheese- making process, you set the course of the cheese,” says Mateo. “But in the ripening stages, you make sure the flavor and texture get it where you want it to go.” Today the Kehlers handcraft their Cheddar with milk from their own herd of Ayrshire cows and pride themselves on the way their cheese is aged—bandaged in three layers of muslin. After it has aged for one year, the nutty, full-flavored Aspenhurst Cheddar reflects its creators’ passion.