Foodies + Goat Lovers Welcome: Western Culture Farmstead & Creamy
First, Suanne Miller fell in love with cheese making. Then, she fell in love with goats. Once a cheese-making hobbyist in Boulder, Suanne and her husband, Dave, made a life changing decision to leave the Front Range for the rural, pastoral lifestyle they craved.
Suanne Miller packages their most popular goat cheese — lemon chive chèvre. Photos by Melanie Wiseman.
“The connection to the animals, the land and the seasons was a very profound thing for us,” explains Suanne Miller. “We were such urban suburbanites; we didn’t have the connection someone has that is already farming and then decides to go into cheese making.”
The Millers planted roots on 5 acres just west of Paonia in 2015. They say they are extremely thankful for the beauty and community of the Western Slope.
ARTISAN GOAT CHEESE
Cary Atwood of Grand Junction takes a break from cycling in the area to help bottle feed the “kids.”
Miller debates what she likes most about making cheese. She loves that it’s an ancient craft — over 7,000 years old — the history, the science, the end result, the patience it teaches you and the fascinating and engaging artistry.
Goat cheese is fairly new to the American palette (the first goat dairy was licensed in California in the 1970s) but is definitely gaining traction as a mainstream food product, rounding out charcuterie boards and main dishes.
Where goat cheese has had a certain reputation as being smelly, unsavory, barnyardy and unpleasant, Miller says she challenges anyone who feels this way to come in and try her cheese.
“I don’t feel my goat cheese reflects any of those flavors, but I have had goat cheese that does,” says Miller. “Research finds it’s how fast you cool the milk. Our milk goes from body temperature to under 40 degrees in under 20 minutes for a cleaner, fresher cheese.”
“I don’t feel my goat cheese reflects any of those flavors, but I have had goat cheese that does,” says Miller. “Research finds it’s how fast you cool the milk. Our milk goes from body temperature to under 40 degrees in under 20 minutes for a cleaner, fresher cheese.”
GOAT VS. COW
“In the world of cheese, I would never say only drink white wine or only drink red wine,” explains Miller. “I say drink all wine, eat all cheeses. Cow and goat cheeses next to each other makes for an overall interesting palate.”
“In the world of cheese, I would never say only drink white wine or only drink red wine,” explains Miller. “I say drink all wine, eat all cheeses. Cow and goat cheeses next to each other makes for an overall interesting palate.”
The Miller’s buck, Jeffrey Valentino, breeds with their approximately 50 females each fall. Come February through April, each nanny averages two babies or “kids.” They nurse for 7-10 days to remove the colostrum (first milk after giving birth), then the nannies are separated and milked for the next 10 months, while the kids are bottle fed, then weaned.
arm hand Carter Keegan gives the nanny goats their daily hay.
THE CHEESE
“We’re milking the goats every day, so I have to be in the creamery making cheese every day,” shares Miller. “The different cheeses are basically different recipes — different ages, different moisture content.”
Softer and creamier cheeses contain more whey, while crumblier or pastry cheeses have less, and removing as much as you can, usually through pressing and aging, produces a harder cheese.
Miller notes that the milk goes through different stages throughout the entire lactation cycle, and she uses this fact to showcase seasonal milk flow — brie in early spring, parmesans late fall and fresh cheeses in summer, such as chèvre, fetas and farmhouse cheeses, aged a mere couple days.
Their most popular cheese is lemon chive chèvre. One customer brings in his own container, buying it by the pound, because his family puts it on “everything!”
“Chèvre is like a blank canvas to me — what seasonings can I add, what can I bring to the table with this cheese,” asks Miller. “And, if you ask me what to pair a certain cheese with or how to serve it, I have answers.”
COMMUNITY
Western Culture Farmstead & Creamery is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Millers welcome guests to visit their on-site farm store, hang out with the goats for some goat therapy, help bottle feed, watch milking and cheese processing and learn where their food comes from.
Spring is a busy time, when area children come to help bottle feed and name the new arrivals. ‘Coconut,’ ‘Snowflake’ and the like hang on tags around the neck of each goat. The goats love people and come running with their tails wagging.
Western Culture Farmstead and Creamery cheeses are featured at many farm-to-table events, small markets across the Western Slope, Indigo Autumn and Black Bridge Winery in Paonia, Big B’s and Farm Runners in Hotchkiss, Smith Fork Ranch in Crawford and hotels, such as Little Nell in Aspen.
Originally published in the Fall 2023 issue of Spoke+Blossom.