Golden Age Cheese is a family-operated Woodhull, New York cheese manufacturer making natural cheeses by hand, from fresh mozzarella and curds to cheddars aged as long as 18 years. Founded by Lawrence and Angela Hickey in 1983, the second-generation Hickey family still uses the same techniques and recipes, with local rBST-free milk and vegetable or microbial rennet. What began at roughly 300 pounds a week has grown more than one hundredfold while retaining its small-town, hands-on roots.
Lively Run Goat Dairy Farm & CreamerySince 1982, family-owned Lively Run Goat Dairy Farm & Creamery has made small-batch artisan cheeses on its Interlaken, New York, farm, using milk from partner farms across the Finger Lakes and beyond. One of New York’s original farmstead cheesemakers, it is known for award-winning cheeses including Cayuga Blue and Finger Lakes Gold, while caring for its animals and stewarding the land through sustainable farming. Visitors can meet the goats and taste the cheeses at the seasonal farm shop.INTERLAKEN, NY
Greek Mountain Dairy LLCFour generations of the Fantis family have preserved cheese-making traditions brought from Greece, with roots reaching back to the late 1800s. Based in Goshen, New York, Greek Mountain Dairy applies that time-honored heritage to its locally made feta in a modern production facility.GOSHEN, NY
Chaseholm Farm CreameryOn a 350-acre, multi-generational farm outside Pine Plains, Chaseholm Farm Creamery makes small-batch farmstead cheeses from milk produced by its own grass-fed herd. Siblings Rory and Sarah Chase run the operation in its third generation, with Sarah managing the dairy herd and grazing lands while Rory turns the farm’s milk into cheeses such as Camembert and Nimbus. The creamery is one of only a handful of New York farmstead producers making cow’s-milk cheese from its own herd.PINE PLAINS, NY
Four Fat FowlA family of cheese lovers, Four Fat Fowl grew from Sunday dinner-table dreams into a Stephentown, New York, creamery founded in 2013. The Bridgham family brings more than 30 years of combined specialty-cheese experience to locally sourced, handcrafted work, led by master cheesemaker Willy Bridgham’s 25 years in artisanal cheesemaking. Its award-winning St. Stephen reflects the Hudson Valley through milk from nearby Dutch Hollow Farm.STEPHENTOWN, NY