A guide to Pleasant Ridge Reserve — the award-winning American Alpine cheese from Wisconsin. Its grass-fed milk, rich flavor, and acclaim.
Pleasant Ridge Reserve is one of the most celebrated cheeses ever made in America — a rich, nutty, Alpine-style cheese from Wisconsin that has won the country's top cheese honors more than once. It's a shining example of the American artisan cheese renaissance.
What Pleasant Ridge Reserve Is
Pleasant Ridge Reserve is an Alpine-style cheese made by Uplands Cheese in southwestern Wisconsin. Inspired by the great mountain cheeses of Europe like Gruyère and Beaufort, it's a firm, cooked-and-pressed cheese made from raw cow's milk and aged for months. It's produced only during the grazing season, when the cows are out on pasture, making it a seasonal, terroir-driven cheese in the European tradition.
Grass-Fed and Seasonal
A key to Pleasant Ridge Reserve's quality is its milk. The cheese is made only in the warmer months when the herd grazes on fresh pasture, using a rotational grazing system that gives the cows a varied diet of grasses and wildflowers. This grass-fed, seasonal milk produces richer, more complex, more aromatic cheese — just as it does for the great Alpine cheeses of Europe. When the cows aren't on pasture, the cheese isn't made.
A Record of Acclaim
Pleasant Ridge Reserve is famous for its competition success. It has won Best of Show at the American Cheese Society competition — the most prestigious award in American cheese — more than once, along with other top honors, a record that few American cheeses can match. This acclaim helped put American artisan cheese on the map and cemented the cheese's reputation as a national treasure.
Flavor and Texture
Pleasant Ridge Reserve has a firm, dense, smooth paste that melts in the mouth. The flavor is rich, nutty, and savory, with fruity, grassy, and caramelized notes and a long, complex finish — much like a fine Alpine cheese, varying with the season and aging. An extra-aged version offers even deeper, more intense flavor. It's a cheese that rewards slow, attentive eating.
How to Use Pleasant Ridge Reserve
Pleasant Ridge Reserve is best appreciated on a cheese board, broken into pieces at room temperature so its aromas open up, served with crusty bread, fruit, and nuts. Like other Alpine cheeses, it melts beautifully into fondue, gratins, and savory dishes, and grates well over food. Given its quality, it's worth enjoying as a centerpiece cheese.
Pairings
Pleasant Ridge Reserve pairs with a range of wines and beers, from crisp whites and light reds to malty ales, as well as with cider. On the plate, walnuts, dried fruit, apples, and crusty bread complement its rich, nutty flavor.
Buying and Storing
Pleasant Ridge Reserve is available from good cheese shops and online, including an extra-aged version. Wrap it in wax paper and keep it in the fridge, bringing it to room temperature before serving. Its firm paste keeps well for weeks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of cheese is Pleasant Ridge Reserve?
An American Alpine-style cheese from Wisconsin, inspired by European mountain cheeses like Gruyère and Beaufort.
Why is it only made seasonally?
It's made only when the cows graze on fresh pasture, as the grass-fed seasonal milk produces richer, more complex cheese.
Why is it so acclaimed?
It has won Best of Show at the American Cheese Society competition more than once, a rare record that made it a flagship of American artisan cheese.