Monterey Chevre -- A goat cheese unique to Berkshire County

Print Story | Email Story
Across the verdant landscape of Monterey, and a little off the beaten track, lies Rawson Brook Farm. This small family-run farm, with its low-fenced paddocks and unassuming barn and outbuildings, is the birthplace of Monterey Chevre (pronounced “shev”), a type of goat cheese. “We got our license to produce cheese for sale in 1984 and have been making Monterey Chevre ever since,” said Rawson Brook Farm owner Susan Sellew. Monterey Chevre is a fresh, soft, and smooth goat cheese. Although reluctant to compare chevre to cream cheese, Sellew agrees that their textures are similar. Besides the mild, plain chevre, Rawson Brook Farm also makes various flavorful varieties like thyme and olive oil chevre. According to Sellew, goat’s milk is more easily digestible than cow’s milk. “We can assimilate it much more quickly. Some people that think they may be lactose intolerant, might not be. Goat milk has lactose, but maybe they just have a hard time digesting cow’s milk.” Rawson Brook Farm is currently home to seventy goats: mostly females, three breeding males, and over a dozen kids. The majority of Sellew’s goats are American and French Alpines, but she does have several white-haired Sanaans and one Nubian for variety in her product. “Nubians have richer milk but produce less of it,” explained Sellew. “There’s higher butter fat and protein in their milk.” She has bred her Nubian goat, Delight, to an Alpine in hopes that the resulting kids will produce the same rich milk in greater quantities. Fifty goats are milked twice each day using milking machines. Each goat averages one gallon of milk per day and it takes one gallon of milk to produce one pound of cheese. “We make 350 to 400 pounds of chevre each week,” said Sellew. Each year, the farm begins producing cheese in the middle of March through to the first week of January. Goats are seasonal breeders that go through a five-month pregnancy. Sellew tries to breed them in October so that they can bear kids come March. The yearly break in cheese production is due to the fact that goats do not produce milk in the last half of their pregnancy. “Goats usually bear twins or triplets,” Sellew stated, but sometimes single kids, or even quadruplets, are born. Out of the 100 to 120 kids born each year at the farm, Sellew keeps approximately 12 to raise as future milkers. Sellew has had goats since the 1970s — during what she calls her “homesteading days” — at a farm in northern New York where she met a French woman who taught her various goat-cheese-making techniques. Sellew stated matter-of-factly, “I’d fallen in love with goats and one thing led to another.” Soon after, Sellew decided to open Rawson Brook Farm in the Berkshires “because I grew up here and love it here.” Still, she is a business woman and admitted that she also thought Berkshire County “would be a good location since it’s between New York City and Boston.” Although quite a broad range for distribution, Sellew expressed confusion over the fact that “over the years, I hear a lot that people have said they’ve gotten Monterey Chevre in areas I don't distribute to. I do all my own distributing; I know where my cheese is sold.” As far as she knows, Rawson Brook Farm is the only one in Monterey that produces chevre. “I think that maybe people try it somewhere and they like it.” Sellew speculated, “Then they assume that a soft goat cheese is Monterey Chevre, that it’s a type of cheese, not from a specific farm in Massachusetts. Maybe consumers think all chevre is Monterey.” Sellew stated that her cheeses could be purchased at her farm, but that this is secondary to her main distribution to stores and restaurants. Monterey Chevre can be purchased as close to home as Guido’s in Lenox, the Berkshire Co-Operative Market in Great Barrington, Creative Gourmet in Tanglewood, Random Harvest in Craryville, Stockbridge Wine in Stockbridge, and Brandow's in Hudson — or as far away as Zabar’s in New York City and at several Bread and Circus locations in Boston — just to name a few. The cheese can also be found at many restaurants, including Aubergine’s in Hillsdale, N.Y., the Castle Street Café in Great Barrington, the Seven Hills Inn in Lenox, the Williamsville Inn in West Stockbridge, The Old Mill in South Egremont, and The Last Chance Café in Tannersville, N.Y. Although her business has thrived, Sellew considers her goats more than just income-producers. “I take them on hikes with me and they stay by my side.” While scratching behind the ear of an obviously grateful goat, she stated, “They’re all very friendly. People always seem sorry that they don’t have a treat for the goats when they walk over. They don’t understand that they aren’t just looking for food — they really just appreciate the attention.”
Share
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

Community Hero: Noelle Howland

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff

Noelle Howland is committed to keeping alive the late Pittsfield ACO Eleanor Sonsini's mission of helping animals ... albeit farther north in North Adams.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — No Paws Left Behind Executive Director Noelle Howland has been selected as the November Community Hero of the Month. 
 
The Community Hero of the Month series honors individuals and organizations that have made a significant impact in their community. The series sponsor, Haddad Auto, has extended this initiative for one more month.
 
Howland breathed new life into the mission of the former Eleanor Sonsini Animal Shelter, which closed in August 2023. 
 
The shelter in Pittsfield operated under the mission established by Eleanor Sonsini, a local animal rights activist and longtime animal control officer in Pittsfield, to be a no-kill shelter committed to finding surrendered and abandoned pets new forever homes. 
 
Howland's love for animals, dedication to their well-being, and expertise in animal behavior and training and shelter management brought this mission to new heights at No Paws Left Behind, a new shelter for dogs located at 69 Hodges Cross Road. 
 
"I want people to understand that I know it's hard to surrender. So, my biggest thing is [making sure] people know that, of course, we're not judging you. We're here to help you," Howland said. 
 
When Sonsini announced its closing, Howland, who was the shelter's manager, worked to save it, launching fundraising initiatives. However, the previous board decided to close the shelter down and agreed to let Howland open her own shelter using their mission. 
 
View Full Story

More North Adams Stories

Community News
image description

New Community Hero: Noelle Howland

Community News
Community News
image description

North Adams Recreation Center Opens Long-Closed Pool

Community News
Health News
image description

Clarksburg Joining Drug Prevention Coalition

Health News
A & E
image description

Weekend Outlook: Storytimes, Tribute Bands and Nightwood

A & E
Schools
image description

Greylock School Geothermal Funding Raises Concerns

Schools
Community News
image description

Harvest Festivals and Craft Fairs 2024

Community News
Latest Stories
Previous Next

What's Trending?