Dry Jack Special Reserve
The Vella Cheese Company has been involved in making cheeses since Tom Vella first worked at the Sonoma Mission Creamery in the 1920s. In 1931, the Vella Cheese Company was founded, and the following decades would see it grow and expand even against such odds as suffering through World War II when the company was forced to work around the clock at full capacity. In 1981, Tom Vella's children started running the operation, and Ig Vella is now at the helm, maintaining the same high standards of quality cheesemaking that his father set over seventy years ago.
Vella's distinctive version of aged Monterey Jack, Dry Jack is a hard cheese with a delicately brittle consistency. After being coated in oil, black pepper, and cocoa, the wheels are aged for eighteen to twenty-four months, and during that time, the cheese develops a sweet flavor, reminiscent of butterscotch.
Farm / Company: Vella Cheese Company
Cheesemaker: Charlie Malkassian
Proprietor: Ig Vella
Affineur:
City, State: Sonoma, California
Region: West
Country: USA
Milk Type: Cow
Milk Treatment: Pasteurized
Rennet: Vegetarian
Rind: Natural
Texture: Grating
Aging: 18 - 24 months
Size(s): 8-9 pound wheel
