Maine Cheese Guild's Cheese and Wine Festival October 15 and 16

Maine cheesemakers now craft exciting new and traditional cheeses from on-farm or local goat, sheep and cow milk that truly reflects the season and region of their creation: tangy goats' cheese pyramids that crumble on the tongue; sharp, full-bodied, aged cheeses made from sheep, cow and goat milk; delicate scoops of fresh cheese mixed with herbs; rustic blue cheeses; creamy cheese discs marinated in olive oil.

Farmers' markets, shops and restaurants around Maine now feature these and other handmade cheeses that "...rival the best of any cheeses produced in Europe," according to DownEast magazine, while The New York Times recently declared that "New England has become the most important center of American cheese craft east of California. While California has more sunshine, New England has better grass -- the finest pasture land in the country, some say."

But don't take their word for it: Find out for yourself at the third annual Maine Cheese and Wine Festival at the Samoset Resort in Rockport, Maine, on Saturday, October 15th. This celebration will feature tastes of all Maine's premium cheeses and wines, seminars about Maine cheesemaking and cheesemakers, plus demonstrations of how to make fresh and delicious products with Maine's abundant, quality milk. This year Maine's wine makers will join the festivities, highlighting their growing industry and products, as well as offering advice on the proper pairing of wine and cheese.

Many of Maine's premier and award winning artisan cheesemakers will be on hand to sample and sell their cheese, and to answer questions about their artisanal cheeses. The Maine cheesemakers will include Silvery Moon Creamery at Smiling Hill Farm from Westbrook; Sunset Acres Farm in Brooksville; 1797 Farm in Auburn; Appleton Creamery in Appleton; State of Maine Cheese Co. in Rockport; Hahn's End in Phippsburg; York Hill Farm in New Sharon; Seal Cove Farm in Lamoine; and more. Maine winemakers will include Winterport Winery, Bartlett Wine, Blacksmith Winery and Cellar Door Winery.

Live demonstrations on making cheese and other artisanal milk products will include: making yogurt; making sweet and cultured butter; making quick and simple Queso Blanco cheese; making an aged French Tomme cheese; and cooking with artisan cheeses.

Cheese and other milk products start with the care and feeding of dairy livestock; the festival will feature examples of these dairy breeds along with the farmers who tend them, who will be available to demonstrate husbandry techniques as well as to answer questions.

Cheese can be made from the milk of any animal, and you can sample milk and cheese from sheep, goats and cows to compare. Antique cheese making tools and fixtures will be displayed to help describe Maine's long history of making cheese and to show how the process has changed very little over hundreds and thousands of years. Other information, such as books about cheeses and cheesemaking, from beginning to technically advanced, will be available for browsing and for sale.

On Sunday, October 16, many of the participating cheesemakers and winemakers will host Open Farms, Wineries and Creameries. Festival attendees are invited back to the farm to see how artisan cheeses and wines are made.

The Samoset has made rooms available for a reduced rate for anybody who attends. The Maine Cheese Guild will raffle several gift baskets of artisanal cheeses to raise funds for the organization and will have a booth where interested attendees can learn about becoming a member.

For more information, please visit www.mainecheeseguild.org or call 207-785-4431 or 207-236-9591.