Here's a question we get a lot - especially from those who may be new to artisanal cheeses. Why wrap cheese in bark? You may have seen this on old-world classics like Vacherin Mont d'Or or Forsterkäse, or the now-industrialized l'Edel de Cleron. Winnimere and Harbison are some of just a few bark-wrapped American cheeses gaining popularity - and for good reason!

Wrapping cheese in bark serves several purposes. Structurally, it enables us to make a very soft, spoonable, high-moisture cheese. Without the bark to serve as a girdle, a cheese like Winnimere would ooze across the table the moment you cut into it - as any cheesemonger who's tried to halve one can attest. Go in through the top and have a spoon handy. 

Bark contributes to flavor and aroma. On a barking day, like the photo above, our workspace smells warm and toasty - not quite like cinnamon; almost like fresh bread. Bark strips are first boiled to sanitize and soften them, making them pliant enough to wrap around the young cheese. The outer edges of a bark-wrapped cheese pick up verdant, smoky, not-quite-pitchy flavors that harmonize with the buttery paste for a deeply complex overall experience. 

The majority of our bark is cut from our own woodland. In the spring through fall, Ronnie Hall, aka "the stripper", is hard at work harvesting spruce cambium from our woodlot. With the growing popularity of Harbison, we're looking ahead to make sure we can keep up with demand and keep sourcing our spruce locally, where there's plenty of timber and skilled hands in need of work. 

Ready to get barked? Our Bark-Wrapped Collection contains both of our bark-wrapped cheeses (Winnimere and Harbison, about 2 pounds of cheese total) - and it's on sale this week. While you're waiting for your order to arrive, you can learn more about how Harbison is made and how we harvest spruce cambium from our woodlot in this vintage video from 2011.