A visit to a cheese cave in Tennessee

While in Tennesse, I did a little agritourism research and discovered a local goat farm making fresh cheese not too far from where I was staying in Hohenwald. Y’all always ask how I find the places I do. Sometimes it is by talking to locals when I stop to stretch my legs or get a cup of coffee. Even during the pandemic, it’s been possible to do some adventuring and road-tripping while staying safely distanced.

On a day after some pretty serious rainstorms, I decided to take a lazy drive. Being a slow traveler, my kind of road has speed limits set at 45 or 55. The road through Waynesboro is a relaxing ride through cow-dotted, rolling green fields. A curvy byway through town followed by a long red clay road took me over a hill to Bonnie Blue Farm.

Bonnie Blue Farm was founded by Gayle Tanner and her husband in 2006. They built the place themselves and, along with a lifetime of knowledge, poured their hearts and souls into creating an idyllic place to live, work, and raise their goats, chickens, and cows.

Gayle is now assisted by Rob Tyrrell who handles milking, management, and everything in between. He enjoys keeping the herd happy by leading them up into the hills for exercise.

Gayle has been working on improving the level of butterfat she can get from her goats. See, cheese needs butterfat to become, well, cheese. Without it, it just can’t hold up. So what Gayle has done is use genetic research to make better cheese. Certain goats within a breed have the potential for producing milk that works well for cheese and others, not so much.

By making sure her goat’s milk is the best it can be, the cheese they turn out is truly exceptional.

And where is it that is best to allow the cheese to age? A cheese cave. Bonnie Blue Farm has its own custom cave built into a side of the hill.

Cheese caves maintain the humidity and temperature for aging cheese.
Scroll for an inside look.

The European-style cheeses are created in small batches and naturally cave-aged. The browsing diet of the goats makes a big difference in flavor.

Try your favorite or one of each of their chevre, feta, great pyr, tomme cheeses, and cheddar. One of my favorites is the Mooleen–Gouda style unpasteurized Jersey cow milk name for their original cow, Eileen.

For information, interviews, tours, or to order cheese visit https://bonniebluefarm.com

Jennifer De Witt is the editor-in-chief of Townie Tourist, a slow travel blog for people who love small towns and mid-size cities.
For more travel stories visit townietourist.com