Ancient Heritage Dairy

“The good grass, the good water,” said Kathy, “That’s what makes the cheese taste so good.”

Tucked into the lush green foothills of the Cascade Mountains, southeast of Salem and just outside of Scio, family-owned Ancient Heritage Dairy is 80 idyllic acres of gently rolling hills, complete with a lagoon, big green barn, old-fashioned farmhouse, milking pen, and creamery, where the Obringers and two of their four children—Hank, 16, and 20-year-old Elle, an Animal Science major at Oregon State University, combine age-old techniques with modern methods to create their exceptional cheeses.

With the assistance of their woolly crew, the Obringers are currently producing light and buttery Valentine--a bloomy, soft-ripened sheep’s milk cheese named after their favorite ewe, and Adelle, made from the same recipe but with a blend of sheep’s milk and Ayrshire cow’s milk from the farm’s small herd of cows. Scio Heritage is the dairy’s signature raw sheep’s milk cheese, with a roasted, nutty flavor that’s slightly sharper than its smoother creamier sister cheese, Hannah Bridge, a blend of sheep’s milk and cow’s milk. The Obringers also make a crumbly, tantalizingly salty Scio Feta, Rosa--a young, raw Pecorino Romano, the popular Opal Creek hard washed-rind cheese, and their new Black Pearl, a creamy cow’s milk cheese coated in ash.

With backgrounds in the East Coast restaurant industry, marketing, publishing, and art (Kathy painted the watercolor hills printed on each Ancient Heritage label), Paul, 58, and Kathy, 60, never imagined they’d wind up artisan cheesemakers in Oregon. But their love for the “round, creamy, sweet, delicious” taste of sheep’s milk, coupled with the discovery that two of their young sons were allergic to cow’s milk, ultimately led them to pursue an organic, sustainably-run sheep dairy. With a typical workday lasting from 6 am to 10 pm, year-round, with only a small break in January before the intense mid-February lambing, it’s not an industry for the faint of heart. But for the Obringers, the cheese makes it all worthwhile.

“When we’ve been working all day and want a quick, healthy dinner,” Kathy said, “We make pasta with sautéed vegetables—whatever’s in the garden or the refrigerator—and shallots, onions, and Freddy Guys hazelnuts. Then we grate in some Hannah Bridge and throw in some chunks of Scio Feta, with olive oil and salt and pepper. Eating that, we think, ‘this whole day was worth it.’”
The Obringers began selling their unique cheeses in 2006 at the PSU Saturday Portland Farmers Market, where they still have a booth. They can also be found at the Hillsdale Market and PFM’s new King Farmers Market on Sundays.

“They can’t get rid of us,” joked Paul, who recently accepted a Portland Farmers Market Board of Directors position, as one of two market vendors on the 11-member volunteer board.
Ancient Heritage Dairy cheeses can also be found on the menus of notable local restaurants such as Nostrana, Bluehour and Paley’s Place, and at New Seasons Markets, Whole Foods, Food Front Co-op, Steve’s Cheese, Little Green Grocer, Foster & Dobbs and Provvista.
“We’re grateful that people like our cheese, and that they buy our cheese,” said Paul. “You have so many people who support the cheesemaker. We’re fortunate to be here, because Portland is such a unique market to start up in.”

Written by: Jen Stevenson, PFM VolunteerPhoto by Sarah Henderson - www.sirenapictures.com