With several independent cheese shops closing and with tariffs wreaking havoc, the cheese world hasn’t been a font of feel-good stories lately. But here’s one: Grafton Village Cheese, a 130-year-old Vermont producer in financial meltdown, has found a buyer. David is saving Goliath in this case, but it appears to be a win-win transaction and a relief to those of us who know and treasure Grafton’s greatest hits, like Clothbound Cheddar (above right) and Shepsog (above left) and its award-winning Bear Hill. “It’s a blessing,” says Grafton Village head cheesemaker Mariano Gonzalez.

Founded in 1892 and shuttered two decades later after a fire, the creamery was revitalized in the 1960s by a foundation dedicated to preserving the economy of rural Grafton. In recent years, the foundation had struggled to keep the creamery staffed and viable. Without a head cheesemaker, cheese quality fluctuated.

In 2019 a new CEO, Ruth Flore, persuaded the foundation to hire Mariano Gonzalez, a highly regarded cheesemaker who had produced acclaimed Cheddars for Shelburne Farms and Fiscalini. By the time the American Cheese Society resumed its annual competition post-Covid, in 2022, Gonzalez had made his mark on Grafton. The creamery’s Clothbound Cheddar won its category that year and two out of the next three years. Shepsog took blue ribbons in 2023 and 2024, with a second-place finish this year.

Still, the foundation was bleeding money on Grafton after a poorly timed expansion. Flore had promised Gonzalez an aging cave, a quarter million-dollar investment. Sales were slipping, then Covid happened and the foundation’s board of directors began to retrench. By 2024, the board was seeking a buyer.

And here’s the happy ending: Vermont Farmstead, a much smaller producer in Woodstock, stepped up with an offer—“at the last minute,” according to Gonzalez—and the deal closed this past June. The two creameries have close ties. Vermont Farmstead cheesemaker Rick Woods used to work at Grafton. The creameries have collaborated often over the years, helping each other out with production space and shared resources.

“We’re excited about how we can grow methodically and strategically,” says Kent Underwood, Vermont Farmstead president and a fifth-generation dairy farmer. “We’re giving stability to Grafton and adding critical mass to Vermont Farmstead.”

Back-end operations will merge for efficiency, but Grafton will keep making the same cheeses in the same creamery with the same staff. What will consumers notice? “I would say zero,” says Underwood. What a relief.

I’m not familiar enough with Vermont Farmstead cheeses to comment on them but, like Flore, I’m a believer in Mariano Gonzalez. “You will never have a better cheesemaker,” she told the foundation board when she hired him. “He’s my legacy to Grafton.”

My Grafton Village favorites:

Clothbound Cheddar: Made from thermized (not fully pasteurized) cow’s milk and aged a minimum of 7 months, Grafton’s Cheddar is a 20-pound wheel with a natural rind and mellow flavors, more nutty and grassy than tangy. Read the creamery’s tasting notes.

Bear Hill: an aged wheel—minimum 7 months—made with thermized sheep’s milk from an Amish farm; Swiss cultures contribute a nutty aroma. Read the creamery’s tasting notes.

Shepsog: made with thermized cow’s and sheep’s milk and aged for at least 7 months; flavors are buttermilky, nutty and lemony. Read the creamery’s tasting notes.

Alas, we will have to wait for Grafton to build up more inventory on all these aged cheeses. “I’m sold out of everything from the cave,” says Gonzalez. “Thanks to the ACS wins, everybody wants the cheese.”