“No more Landaff” is not a phrase I wanted to read this year, or ever. I loved this cheese. But New Hampshire’s Landaff Creamery is closing, and its signature cheese—Landaff—will soon live only in memory. It makes me sad to lose a farmstead producer and to realize how quickly and quietly a unique cheese like Landaff can essentially go extinct. You might want to snap up a wedge while you can.

Doug and Deb Erb have been dairy farmers in Landaff, New Hampshire, for 40 years and cheesemakers since 2006. Because their town is named for a Welsh village, they decided to make an American rendition of the best-known Welsh cheese, Caerphilly. Doug went to England to learn the method from the acknowledged Caerphilly master, Chris Duckett, and then adapted the recipe to the Erbs’ own raw milk. They named their cheese Landaff and partnered with the Cellars at Jasper Hill for the aging and marketing. Kinsman Ridge their second creation, was an admirable cheese, also aged in the Jasper Hill caves, and Jasper Hill intends to keep it in production with the Erbs’ starter culture. But Landaff struck me as more distinctive, almost in a category of its own, with aromas of butter, cave and earth and a persistent buttermilk tang.

Making cheese was supposed to improve the Erbs’ bottom line, and for a while it did. But when the pandemic hit, the creamery’s cheese sales plummeted 80 percent. They had always sold their excess milk to a co-op, but prices were cratering there, too. They had a plan to turn more of their milk into cheese and leave the co-op, but they never got there.

“When we started, we milked 85 cows and were considered a large farm,” recalls Doug. “At the end, we were milking almost 85 and were considered a small farm. If you had told us in 1980 that there would be three farms milking over 1,000 cows within 45 minutes of our farm, we would have said you were crazy. But that’s the way it has evolved.”

The couple have sold their herd to a family member and their cheesemaking equipment to a young couple who have plans to make cheese. So that’s a hopeful sign, that young people still want to enter this industry. The Erbs will mentor them, as Chris Duckett mentored them, but whatever this young couple makes, it won’t be Landaff. It can’t be, the Erbs say. The cows will be different; the location will be different. Landaff is history.

“You asked about our emotions,” says Deb. “The week after we made the decision, we went through all of them: grief, upset, sad. But we have enough health issues after 40 years of farming that, in the end, we were relieved.”

Time for Cheese O’Clock!

It’s a cheese party! Please join me and fellow cheese expert Laura Werlin for Cheese O’Clock, a four-week series of you-are-almost-there virtual tastings. Zoom registration is free, but we encourage you to order each week’s unique cheese collection and wines to taste along with us and our featured guests.

“Cheese O'Clock outdid itself. The quality of the product was world class stunning and we loved the evening.”
Ray and Diane A.

“Thank you for sharing your knowledge and passion in such an engaging, accessible and magical way.”
Suzy F.

Thursday, February 18— ORDER CHEESE BY FEB 5!
“Europe Off the Beaten Path” with WillaKenzie Estate
All details here

Thursday, February 25
“Italian All Stars” with Captûre Wines and Tenuta di Arceno
All details here

Thursday, March 4
“Wonder Women of American Cheese” with Cambria Winery
All details here

Thursday, March 11
“Aged to Perfection” with Galerie Wines
All details here