Blue Mounds, Wisconsin

Willi Lehner is a renegade, even amongst the wild world of independent cheesemakers. He and his partner Qui’tas operate an off the grid dairy that runs on wind and solar power. He has trained with master cheese makers in the UK, and spent a summer herding sheep around the Swiss alps, making fresh butter from their milk daily. All that global experience has led him to make cheeses with real terroir, taking advantage of the best local grass fed milk and the unique attributes of his surroundings in Wisconsin’s “Driftless” southwest. 

Bandaged Cheddar