Charles de Gaulle once famously wondered how to govern a nation that had 246 kinds of cheese. The United States is still catching up, but the Capital Foodshed’s artisanal cheesemakers are making a dent in the cheese deficit. The newest addition is Katie Carter who is debuting her handmade Afina cheese, which is inspired by Robiola, an Italian Piedmont cheese. She’s working in the creamery at Oak Grove Farm in Marshall, Va., using milk from Jersey cows at the 400 plus acre sustainable farm.
Get to know our area cheesemakers: click on Flavor’s online Cheese Trail, download the map, and pack your kids in the car for a weekend of eating and learning in Maryland and Virginia. Most offer educational tours of their facilities — but because they are small operations, call ahead to make sure — and all celebrate everything local and artisanal.
View Flavor Magazine’s Local Cheese Trail in a larger map
Afina Handmade Cheese (Marshall, Va)
Bonnyclabber Cheese Co. (Wake, Va)
Caromont Farm (Esmont, Va)
Chapel’s Country Creamery (Easton, Md)
Everona Dairy (Rapidan, Va)
FireFly Farms (Accident, Md)
Green Haven Farm (Woodstock, Va) 540-459-3783
Mountain View Farmstead Cheese (Fairfield, Va)
PA Bowen Farmstead Cheese (Brandywine, MD)
