Gold Medalists

This Sunday, you'll have to to congratulate the folks at Shepherds Manor Creamery on their gold medal win this year at the American Cheese Society’s (ACS) annual cheese competition.Colleen & Michael Histon own and operate Maryland’s first and only sheep dairy. Yes, you can milk sheep!This year’s gold medal went to their Fetina in the Sheeps Milk Feta category. The Histons are no strangers to the winners’ circle when it comes to the Olympics of cheese. Last year their Dottie Tomae, a pasteurized semi-hard cheese with a Riesling washed rind took second place in its class and in 2017, the original Tomae which is made with raw milk took home a gold medal, the first year they ventured into America’s premier cheese competition.Unfortunately, the competition comes at the worst time of the year to leave the farm for several days to attend the conference and competition which moves around the country. This year’s event was held in Richmond, Virginia making it easier for Histons to attend and accept their awards in person. “We milk from March to mid-October doing all the processing, affinage, packing, labeling, deliveries and markets ourselves,” explained Colleen as the couple drove home Saturday afternoon skipping the grand finale of the conference, the Festival of Cheese, which showcases all the entries and winners of the competition. “We still have to go to market on Sunday.”This is the life the Histons have lead since ditching mere careers for a true passion. “We started out as foodies with office jobs,” said Colleen as she chronicled how her love for food went from hobby to farmstead cheesemaker. Having raised and showed meat sheep for many years, the Histons were not completely new to sheep. After a few fortuitous visits with a cheese monger at the farmers market in Saint Helena during trips to California, the meat breeds were traded for milk breeds, a larger farm was purchased, a creamery built and in 2011 the Histons made their first cheeses and began selling at regional farmers markets in 2013.“If we would have known what we were getting into back then, we might not have done it,” admitted Colleen after telling me how she and her husband built their entire operation themselves, often putting in long hours on the farm in addition to their day jobs in the beginning.Currently, they milk a mixed flock of approximately 90 ewes. The two breeds they milk are East Friesian, originating from East Frisia in northern Germany and Lacaune from southern France.Shepherds Manor Creamery produces ten different varieties of cheeses. The Shepherds Soft Serve Ewe Crème is a pasteurized sheep’s milk soft cheese similar to ricotta and comes in a variety of flavors (garlic, pepper, chive) in addition to plain. There are two styles of washed rind Tomae, one made from raw milk and the other with pasteurized milk. The Colbere is a mild white soft slicing style raw milk cheese and this year’s winner, Fetina is a European style raw milk feta. My favorite is one of their newest cheeses, Cameo, which is a Camembert style cheese with a bloomy rind.In addition to their award-winning cheeses, the Histons also make luxurious sheep milk soaps.