Atlanta Cheese Festival expands in new location

Rogue Creamery Caveman Blue (Oregon) — This cave-aged raw cow's milk American blue has a rugged, mold-riddled natural rind. But inside is a luscious, complex, fruity cheese with a buttery flavor and texture.

Sweet Grass Dairy Thomasville Tomme (Georgia) — An homage to the dairy's hometown made in the style of a French mountain Pyrenees tomme, this natural rind raw cow's milk cheese is smooth, rich, tangy and slightly salty.

Uplands Cheese Pleasant Ridge Reserve (Wisconsin) — Raw cow's milk from nine cross-breeds goes into this aged Swiss-style cheese. The intense flavors range from sweet and fruity to herbal and tangy.

Vermont Creamery Cremont (Vermont) — This "Cream of Vermont" is an aged mixed cow's and goat's milk cheese with a touch of cream. White, soft and brie-like, with a delicate rind and a rich, earthy flavor.

Five tastes of the Atlanta Cheese Festival

Many Fold Farm Condor's Ruin (Georgia) — A unique seasonal offering named for the ruins of the Condor family dairy in Chattahoochee Hills, this ash-ripened sheep's milk cheese is dense, velvety-rich and pretty, too.

Rogue Creamery Caveman Blue (Oregon) — This cave-aged raw cow's milk American blue has a rugged, mold-riddled natural rind. But inside is a luscious, complex, fruity cheese with a buttery flavor and texture.

Sweet Grass Dairy Thomasville Tomme (Georgia) — An homage to the dairy's hometown made in the style of a French mountain Pyrenees tomme, this natural rind raw cow's milk cheese is smooth, rich, tangy and slightly salty.

Uplands Cheese Pleasant Ridge Reserve (Wisconsin) — Raw cow's milk from nine cross-breeds goes into this aged Swiss-style cheese. The intense flavors range from sweet and fruity to herbal and tangy.

Vermont Creamery Cremont (Vermont) — This "Cream of Vermont" is an aged mixed cow's and goat's milk cheese with a touch of cream. White, soft and brie-like, with a delicate rind and a rich, earthy flavor.

In its second year, the Atlanta Cheese Festival is already a big hit, moving from Park Tavern to a bigger space at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, and offering a greater array of cheesemakers, artisan food producers, chefs and tastings.

The crowd at this year’s festival, running 6-10 p.m. Friday, is expected to top out at 3,000, up from 1,300 last year. More than 100 producers, up from 48 last year, will be set up around the garden’s Great Lawn, creating a lively farmers market-style atmosphere where attendees will be able to purchase cheese and other products.

Adding to the cheese exaltation, cheesemakers and chefs will offer cooking demonstrations in the Edible Garden, local chefs will compete to create the perfect people’s choice grilled cheese, and VIP ticket holders will have access to a beer-and-cheese or wine-and-cheese pairing symposium sponsored by the Institut du Fromage.

Brian Scott, one of the founders of the cheese festival, works for Atlanta-based Gourmet Foods International, where he connects farmstead cheese producers with accounts such as Whole Foods.

“What we are replicating in a smaller way is the Bra Cheese Festival in Italy, which is the biggest cheese festival in the entire world,” Scott said. “It’s a four-day festival in an open air market. We’ve been sponsoring a booth of American artisan cheesemakers there.”

While the Atlanta festival adopts the serious cheese-tasting side of the Bra festival, Scott said there’s also a more American sense of entertainment.

“We have a bluegrass band,” he said. “And I think one of the really fun things we’re doing is the Grilled Cheese Meltdown, where we have some of Atlanta’s best chefs competing for votes for the best grilled cheese.”

And then there’s beer and cheese, including a tasting panel with John Maier, brewmaster of Oregon’s Rogue Ales, and the likes of cheesemakers David Gremmels of Rogue Creamery, Mary Keehn of Cypress Grove and Sue Conley of Cowgirl Creamery.

“I’ve been doing the beer and cheese thing with David Gremmels of Rogue Creamery for a while now,” Maier said. “They make quite a few cheeses with our beer, and now our hops, too. It’s amazing how well beer and cheese go together.”

Asked about his favorite beer-and-cheese pairings, Maier said he leans toward brown and blue.

“We brewed a strong brown ale for Rogue Creamery’s 80th anniversary,” Maier said. “I designed it with David Gremmels to go with his blue cheese. Brown ales and blue cheese seem to go together really well. And I like hoppy beer with cheddar. I think beer and cheese are just a great combination.”