Sheep-milk cheese is a winner for UW, area cheesemaker

The same mix of art and science that made Wisconsin famous for cows and cheese is now earning the state a name for its dairy sheep and sheep milk cheese.

At the annual American Cheese Society competition in July, an aged 100-percent sheep-milk cheese named Dante took top honors in its class for technical and aesthetic merit. Dante was developed by researchers in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and produced by Cedar Grove Cheese of Plain, Wis. It was one of a record 941 cheeses at the competition this year.

At Cedar Grove Cheese, research chef and cheesemaker Dane Huebner is excited about the prospects of Dante and other sheep milk cheeses.

“Sheep’s milk is really wonderful for making cheese and there are a lot of niches that haven’t been filled,” says Huebner. “[Dante] has shown Wisconsin cheesemakers can use sheep milk to produce wonderful creations locally instead of having the milk leave the state.”

Development of Dante started on campus roughly five years ago. Because the composition of sheep’s milk is different than that of cow’s milk, researchers had to overcome several challenges before they could hand over production to Cedar Grove. William Wendorff, a UW–Madison professor of food science, and John Jaeggi, a researcher at the Center for Dairy Research, collaborated to design the new production methods, which included modifications to milk storage and handling. The process was further refined at Cedar Grove.

The effort to develop sheep-milk cheese goes hand in hand with work by animal scientists to improve the milk composition and yield of dairy sheep. Dave Thomas, a professor of animal science, and Yves Berger, superintendent of the Spooner Agricultural Research Station, developed an East Friesian/Lacaune crossbreed that now serves as the main dairy stock. UW–Madison has the only dairy sheep research program in North America.

Cedar Grove produces Dante for the Wisconsin Dairy Sheep Cooperative, one of the largest dairy sheep organizations in North America. Cedar Grove also makes a mixed cow- and sheep-milk cheese called “Mona” for the cooperative.

Names for both cheeses were inspired by fine art. For Dante, Rodin’s “The Thinker” graces the label, although the famous sculpture has been given an agricultural twist, with Dante’s head replaced by that of a sheep. And on the packaging for Mona, da Vinci’s masterpiece gets an ovine facelift.