Oser Communications Group

The Cheese Guide 7 The story you are now reading, as it turns out, is not a story about making the world's finest handmade cheese, which is what David Gremmels says he does for a living, but about building a cathedral, which is what his employees think they're doing. An Origin Story When I met David Gremmels at his office first thing in the morning, he had a cheese tasting waiting for me. He was wearing, he said, his power shoes and his lucky pocket square because he was nervous about our meeting. I looked down at a pair of polished brown wingtips. "Power shoes?" I asked. "They were my dad's," he said. "Tomorrow I'll be more casual." He indicated the wedge of cheese in front of me and invited me to taste and score the cheese on a rubric worksheet set down next to it. Rogue Creamery cheeses are judged at the creamery by a team of people trained in organoleptic evaluation who ensure that the cheeses all taste the way they're supposed to, which means that although each variety of cheese has its own characteristics, they all share a balance of flavor notes that's distinctive of the Rogue River Valley – a balance of spice and sweetness and a strong note of umami that's almost a flavor of bacon with lighter notes of berries and undertones of Grape Nuts cereal. "We have a 'Cheese is First' attitude, and it really does start with the flavor," he said. "We put the berries out in front of us and the cereals and compare.... Euell Gibbons would be proud." After tasting the flavor, it becomes a matter of texture; the development of the cavities within the paste that result from fermentation, the amino acid crystals that form as the cheese ages. After that, the inspector comes up with a score at the bottom of the page. A 10 is competition-worthy. A 7 is a respectable cheese. "If it's below a 5, we think about if we can age it out or send it off to Blue Heaven," Gremmels said. "Blue Heaven" means that the cheese will be powdered for sale to chefs who use it as a finishing spice. Rogue Creamery specializes in blue cheeses and has since it was founded by the Vella family, although the creamery also makes some cheddars that comprise about 20 percent of its production. Gremmels bought the creamery from Ig Vella in 2002. Before that, he'd grown up on a farm near Olympia, Washington, the child of artists committed to having a life in touch with the Earth. "They just inspired me to living a similar life – for having and living a generous life," Gremmels said. From the farm in Olympia, Gremmels went on to have a career in corporate branding, leading creative teams for major corporations, when he realized, as he approached his 40th birthday, that although he was very engaged in moving brands forward, he wasn't taking time to engage with the neighbors around him. He wanted to change that, so he bought a building in Ashland, Oregon, with the intention of using the woodworking skills his father had taught him to restore it to its original glory as an example of early 20th century Western architecture and eventually turning it into a wine bar that would draw the community in to interact with him. "I think the wrecking ball was in its future. I wanted to change that," he said. "I used my skills as an artist and designer to redesign its future.... I had the tools and the experience." As he was finishing the restoration of the building, bringing it back to its original 1905 appearance, he started looking for the wines and cheeses he planned to put on the menu. That led him to Rogue Creamery and Ig Vella. "I told Mr. Vella I'd love to incorporate his cheeses and his family's story on the menu," he said. "He looked at me and said, 'If you want my cheese, you'll have to make it yourself.'" Rogue Creamery was for sale, as his family had decided to coalesce back to its roots in northern California, Vella explained. They were looking for a buyer who'd keep the creamery operating and its staff employed, so they'd need a buyer who already knew how to make cheese or was willing to learn. For the right buyer, Vella would stay on for a while to train the new owner. "On July 1 of 2002, we shook hands after making a vat of cheese together," Gremmels said. Gremmels thought at first that he'd be making cheese part-time and spending the rest of his time at the wine bar, but it didn't take him long to realize that he actually had two full-time jobs, and he was going to have to make a choice. He already knew he was hooked on cheese — and the whole idea of making a food that provides beneficial sustenance to nourish individuals rather than leading a corporation forward — so he found a chef who was looking for the right space to serve high-end food using local ingredients, and she took over the newly restored building while Gremmels dedicated himself to Rogue Creamery. He changed Rogue's orange cheddars to white cheddar and began working with business partner Cary Bryant to implement quality standards. "We continue to lead in that area of quality assurance in every step we take," he said. Vella stayed around for

• Cover