Say Cheese at Finger Lakes Creamery Farms

What goes better with Finger Lakes wine than locally produced artisan cheese? We can't think of anything! Wine and cheese are a classic food pairing, co-mingling the astringent characteristics of wine with the fatty mouth feel of cheese. So it makes sense if you're going to spend time touring Finger Lakes wineries that you stop by a local creamery farm to pick up the perfect cheese to enjoy with your favorite wine – for a complete Finger Lakes experience!

Where can you find a local cheese producer? Start with the Finger Lakes Cheese Alliance, a collection of working family farms and producers, each creating their own brand of artisanal and farmstead cheeses. Creating some of the region's best cheddars, jacks, blues and more, these creameries aim to bring fresh artisanal cheeses from their family farms to you. Some farms offer tours of their dairy operations, while others have grab-and-go stores. Plan your visit, and locate participating farms at www.flxcheese.com.

We'll get you started with two Finger Lakes cheese producers not far from your vacation getaway here at Yale Manor.

Crosswinds Farm and Creamery is home to 100% grass-fed Brown Swiss cows. These cows produce higher protein milk, which is handcrafted into farm-fresh artisan cheese. While not currently open for tours, their self-service farm store is open dawn to dusk. Try their Morning Glory, a soft farmers cheese known for its versatility and classic flavor. It comes in three varieties: original, maple and chive. Or grab their award-winning Butternut Baby Swiss, a delicate balance of sharp, sweet and buttery goodness.

For an interactive experience, visit Lively Run Dairy, a pioneer in bringing goat cheese to the American marketplace. They offer daily tastings of their small-batch, handmade artisanal goat and cow cheeses. Their award-winning Cayuga Blue goat’s milk blue cheese is marbled throughout with blue mold as deep in color as the lake it's named after. In addition to tastings, you can bottle feed the baby goats and feed organic corn to the other goats. Lively Run even offers goat yoga, a trendy workout that involves doing yoga with baby goats that walk on your back during certain poses. You've got to try it!

“Good cheese needs good companions.” —James Beard