Cheese

Creamy, salty tang with a lush, buttery finish.

Yarra Valley Dairy’s flagship cheese is their Persian Fetta, a wonderful soft and creamy cow’s milk fetta. This unique cheese is made by first placing the freshly made feta in brine for at least two weeks in order to develop its flavour and texture. It is then washed to remove the excess salt before being marinated in oil infused with fresh herbs & spices.

The Australian Buffalo milk and cheese making industry started in the 1990’s when Roger and Sue Haldane imported water buffalo from Italy and Bulgaria, to their family farm in Western District Victoria. They soon started making buffalo mozzarella and yoghurt from the protein rich milk of their grass fed buffalo. Still a family affair, son Ewan now manages the buffalo whilst daughter Thea oversees the dairy, along the banks of Shaw River.

The mozzarella is made daily from fresh milk collected that morning. Curds are hand-stretched, then hand-moulded into a porcelain-white shiny ball enclosed in a tight, thin skin. The texture inside is juicy and moist between spun layers of curd. When just days old, the texture is slightly firm and slowly breaks down to softer texture when a week old.

Best eaten very fresh, the flavour is delicate and distinctly different from spun cheeses made from cow’ milk. The Haldane’s recommend tearing the mozzarella instead of using a knife, so the natural texture is enjoyed.