A visit to a dairy farm activates all the senses: first, the smell of fresh country air. The touch of warm sun on skin. The sight of towering barns and animals in the fields beyond. The sound of hay crunching underfoot as goats bleat in the distance, accompanied by the barking of resident farm dogs — a symphony of domestic farm life.
And then, there’s taste.
Following the Cayuga Wine Trail from Waterloo to Candor, the Finger Lakes Cheese Trail highlights four family run dairy farms: Muranda Cheese Company, Lively Run Goat Dairy, Sunset View Creamery and Side Hill Acres Goat Farm. Offering cheese tastings and locally made dairy products, each stop on the trail presents a one-of-a-kind experience for visitors.
Steve Messmer, owner of Lively Run Goat Dairy in Interlaken near Cayuga Lake, connects to his inner child through his work on the farm.
“I’ve been making hay since I was 10 years old,” he said. “I always like to open the window in the summer when I’m driving down the road, because I can smell cut hay fields from a long ways away.”
Lively Run Goat Dairy is a humble dairy farm managed by the entire Messmer family. A hand-painted sign just off the main road, cracking from years under the beating sun, advertises “Sales, Tasting, Tours.” A small tent out front, sides flapping gently in the wind, hosts cheese tastings right next to the barn that houses goats whose milk has been carefully crafted into cheese.
Lively Run’s goat cheese feta is arguably the unsung hero of their catalogue. Its tangy mouthfeel characteristic of goat’s milk cheese combined with its dense crumble is no doubt due to the meticulous methods of the cheesemaker, who happens to be Messmer’s 37-year-old son, Pete.
Muranda Cheese Company, situated between Seneca and Cayuga Lakes in Waterloo, takes a more elevated approach to the tasting experience, welcoming crowds into a large, converted barn with high ceilings and acres of open farmland beyond the walls. Describing texture and taste hundreds of times on busy weekends alongside free live music and a curated selection of local wine, tasting room employees at Muranda Cheese Company have a deep understanding of all things cheese.
Though it is no longer a working farm, Muranda Cheese Company is still wholly rooted in family ties. Owner and cheesemaker Blane Murray remains intimately involved in the cheesemaking process. Foundational to the many flavors of their tasting room are the expansive vaults of aging rooms just beneath the floorboards, holding walls of cow’s milk cheese wheels until they’re perfectly matured.
After they are cooled and humidified with care, the earthy musk of cheese rind and vibrant hues of blue and gold within these caches is a testament to the dedication of Muranda’s cheese connoisseurs. Their Parmesan and Gouda blend, Lady of the Lake, crystallizes into a delicate crunch with a gentle bite, impeccable when paired with a Muranda-branded Dry Riesling, made by Glenora Wine Cellars just across Seneca Lake.
At Sunset View Creamery in Odessa at the base of Cayuga Lake, three resident farm dogs wag their tails, anxiously awaiting a gentle pat and ready to lead visitors through a self-guided tour of the farm. Tiny calves, eager to socialize, stick out their tongues and swoon at the prospect of a good head scratch. Sunset’s farm store is packed with freshly made cheeses, beef tallow lip balms, and all the fixings for an afternoon charcuterie board. A six-generation enterprise, Sunset View Creamery is a family-run business founded on creating exceptional products.
Outside the village of Candor, just beyond Cayuga Lake, is Side Hill Acres Goat Farm, home to Russell Kellogg, an archetypal farming man who inherited the business from his father. Kellogg heads the daily operations of the farm along with multiple generations of his family, a steadfast caretaker of the animals that keep his business going.
“I just enjoy it,” he said. “Milking first thing in the morning. Graining them, checking on them, watering them, and then turning around and going back into the cheese plant after I go get the grandkids on the bus.”
Kellogg’s wife, Rita, died two months ago. For him, the farm is a reflection of his heart: his familial bonds with the animals, the family he raised and the woman he built a life with. Even through their grief, the Kellogg family continues to deliver quality for their customers. They craft their cheese by hand, a delicate labor of love that is their New York State Fair award-winning product.
All four dairy farms on the Finger Lakes Cheese Trail share ancestry. On any given day, there are four generations of the Kellogg family working at Side Hill Acres Goat Farm, from Kellogg, who is a great-grandfather, milking goats in the darkest hours of the morning and pausing his chores to pick up his great-grandchildren from the school bus in the late afternoon to his granddaughter joining him in the early evening when she returns from work.
Family run farms carry a palpable weight of humanity, they are the lifeblood of food security in this country. A trip along the Finger Lakes Cheese Trail offers a glimpse into the quiet, daily devotion behind the food everyone eats — and the families who make it all possible. fingerlakes.com/cheese
Ten Gardner is a contributor to CITY.
This article appears in Dec 1-31, 2024.
