SAY CHEESE: Kelly Harding and Eric Hilgartner
Two Guys Making Cheese Photos by Doug Gehlsen Middleburg Photo
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By Vicky Moon
elly Harding knows how to say cheese. And make it. He grew up in Frederick County, Maryland and has “mostly worked on dairy farms.
“I was managing a dairy farm in New Jersey in the early 2000s,” he recalled, adding that he got into the cheese business after not being able to find a cheesemaker himself. “I decided to figure it out,” he said, doing just that at the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese at the University of Vermont. “That was a big help.” Since 2006, Harding has run a cheese consulting business—The Village Cheesemaker. He works with anyone who wants to learn how to make cheese, launch their own business with help on feasibility, budgets, design and equipment as well as management goals.
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Our goal is to make a local cheese that lots of folks will enjoy.---Kelly Harding, The Village Cheesemaker. He and Eric Hilgartner are now partners in their own cheese business, with products they’ve named Zulla, Round Hill, Bluemont and Atoka. Their Village Cheese Works is on a farm located between Middleburg and Upperville. “We wholesale to small shops and retailers, CSAs, wineries, chefs, restaurants and caterers,” Hilgartner said. “All our cheeses are small format soft cow’s milk cheeses that are difficult for many of these businesses to keep in supply consistently at the right quality level and price.”
Go Green Middleburg | Fall 2021
The Village Cheese Works Hilgartner grew up in Round Hill, now lives in Middleburg and has worked at a dairy farm in Aldie, where they also made cheese. Village Cheese Works products range between $6-10, providing a ton of value and quality in shareable portion sizes.
