From Oregon with Love…

Hello Fellow Travelers!

While I enjoy the adventure of travels (and cheese!), I have been longing to set down some roots and purchase a home over the last year. 

I am happy to say that I purchased a home and the process of moving has begun. Box after box were brought in to the home that I had to find a new home for….and just when I thought I would scream if I saw one more box, this care package came from Oregon. Just the label on the outside of the box told me I was in for something special. My Aunt and Uncle who live in Salem, Oregon, always try to bring food products from Oregon when they visit, most of the time from the Made in Oregon store, but this one was unique and different…It was from Rogue Creamery!!

Not familiar with Rogue Creamery? I knew their current story, but their backstory was even better…

“Oregon’s Rogue River Valley was a vastly different region when Tom Vella arrived from Sonoma, California. Small, diversified farms dotted the landscape as well as sprawling pear orchards. Seasonal employment in the logging industry and at lumber mills employed many, but there were few jobs available to tide a family over an unusually long winter. It was during the Depression in 1933, a small creamery opened in southern Oregon. This new business promised to create year round jobs and was a welcome addition to the area. Vella immediately started growing the business and employing as many people as possible. He was mindful that the faster he expanded, the more he could help small farms in the Rogue River Valley to survive during these dire times. The farmers were with him from the start, supplying ample milk to the cheese factory. The Creamery became a major supplier of cottage cheese in Oregon.

Inspired by the success of their cottage cheese, Tom Vella decided to expand again, this time to blue cheese. Hoping that the best path to great blue cheese was to begin at the source, he and his wife traveled in the early 1950s to where the best blues in the world were made, Roquefort, France. The Roquefort Association, although shrouded in secrecy, welcomed Tom when he spoke to the supervisor of the facilities in the man’s native dialect. They became instant blood brothers. Presented with a gold pass signed by all functionaries of the Society, Tom toured operations from farms to cheese factories to the curing limestone caves at Cambalou. At the end of summer he departed France with plans for a Roquefort type cheese factory. The Creamery began production of blue in early 1954. It also went down in the books as the first blue cheese produced in caves west of the Missouri River. Over the years Vella's dedication to quality was unwavering to the end as was his enthusiasm for the business and this valley. He died on December 23, 1998, at age 100.

The business was inherited by Tom's wife, Zolita, and his four children: Ignazio, Carmela, Moris, and Zolita. The family was committed to preserving Vella's legacy and lifetime of work, so his eldest son, Ignazio (Ig), became his successor and took over Rogue Creamery.

As CEO of both Rogue Creamery and Vella Cheese Company, (in Sonoma, CA), Ig began preaching the value of artisan products. For his dedication to artisan cheese, and for his efforts over the years on behalf of the industry, Ig was dubbed "The Godfather of the artisan cheese industry."

For three years Ig continued to split his time between Sonoma and Central Point, Oregon. Ig knew that in order for Rogue Creamery to succeed he would need to move to Oregon. Ig realizing that he was not ready to make that move, he put the Rogue Creamery on the market. 

However flattering the offers, the sobering truth was that the potential buyers planned to take ownership of the labels and close the plant. It was at that time that David Gremmels and Cary Bryant stepped forward. More important to Ig than the purchase price was keeping the plant open and remaining a contributing partner in the community. On the front porch of the Creamery a handshake sealed the deal.

Today, Rogue Creamery is thriving. Gremmels and his team have steadfastly held to the principles laid out by Tom and Ig Vella. Rogue Creamery has won numerous trophies and awards since then, including: World's Best Blue Cheese at the 2003 World Cheese Awards in London (a first for a U.S. creamery); Rogue River Blue took Best in Show at the 2009 American Cheese Society in Austin Texas; and lastly “World’s Best Cheese” from the World Cheese Awards from Bergamo, Italy in 2019.

Back to my gift box…Which included three great cheeses: Cacow Belle (shown left: which has the curds tumbled in dark chocolate powder), Smokey Blue (center) and Jefferson Organic Cheddar. The box also included Dagoba Dark Chocolate, local honey, a bag of “Oregon Logger” coffee and a coffee mug!

I could have not been more thrilled to receive such a “welcome home” gift! Thank you Aunt Chaille and Uncle Curt!!

All I can say is that if Christopher Walken were enjoying this cheese plate with me, he would be saying: “I Need More Cacow Belle”!!

As I slowly start unpacking my kitchen…Some cheesy recipes are coming your way!

Until next week…

Trevor