A trio made up of two cheeses from Quebec and one from Ontario is featured in the October 2026 cheese club!
We are always happy to shine the light on amazing Canadian cheese makers! This month our cheese club members will sample a selection of cheeses from two provinces.
Fromagerie L’Autre Versant, Hébertville, Québec
The Fromagerie L’Autre Versant is a traditional farmhouse cheese dairy processing Ayrshire cows’ milk from their farm to offer you a range of fine cheeses made from raw milk.
Hébertville is near Saguenay.
Le Tremblay
Soft bloomy rind raw cow’s milk cheese made from fresh milk of high nutritional and cheese-making value from an Ayrshire herd. It features a soft taste of butter and almonds. This cheese exhibits a noticeable evolution in taste as you eat from the outer rind toward the centre.
Suggested wine / beer: Chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, fruity beer such as the Erdinger Weissbier.
Fromagerie Fritz Kaiser, Noyan Québec
Fritz Kaiser in Noyan, Quebec, founded the Fritz Kaiser cheese factory in 1981 near the border with the state of New York.
Mr. Kaiser began crafting his cheeses inspired by the traditions from his homeland, Switzerland.
La Mascotte
This cheese offers an aroma of milk and grass with a delicate nutty taste. La Mascotte is a subtle, mild and fresh tasting goat’s milk cheese, without the often associated strong aroma. It is moist, allowing a full floral, herby and zesty palette with a subtle taste of roasted almonds. Its rind releases a most appealing slightly woodsy aroma.
Suggested wine / beer: Merlot, Chardonnay, white Belgian beer.
Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese, Woodstock Ontario
Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese is a small artisan cheese plant in Oxford County. You can taste the influence from techniques and recipes Shep Ysselstein learned while making cheese in the Swiss Alps.
The milk used to create the cheeses comes from the Ysselstein family dairy farm run by Shep’s father and four brothers. The milk used to create the Buffalo Bliss brie comes from Hope Artisan Dairy Co-op.
Handeck
The Handeck cheese is a handcrafted, washed-rind cow’s milk cheese that is produced using the same methods as a classic Swiss alpine-style cheese. It is delicately aged on cedar planks, adding robust quality to the cheese. It is a dry hard cheese with rich and complex flavours and nutty overtones.
Suggested wine / beer: Gewürztraminer, Pinot Noir, Stout.