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Sometimes some of our biggest producers have so much milk in their udders prior to birthing that the weight of the milk can cause a herniation of the abdomen and the rumen then falls down into the udder area.  Unfortunately when this happens there is no choice but to dispatch the ewe to that grazing ground in the sky!  This is not the preferred outcome for her nor for us as we lose one of our best milkers, so this year Diane decided to offer a bit more "support" to the big girls by buying a size FF bra from the Salvos and fitting it to a very perplexed ewe!  The good news is that she has now had 2 healthy girls and is milking quite happily.

Its finally here! Grandvewe is now THE ONLY ORGANIC SHEEP CHEESERY IN AUSTRALIA!

When Grandvewe cheeses first started their operation in early 2001, we were certified organic. We only milked about 40 ewes and did not have enough product to sell it anywhere else then direct.

6 months into our operation, we opened up our tourist outlet which helped us sell out alot quicker then expected. Opening the tourist outlet helped us realise that being certified organic did not sell the cheese, it was the taste and the fact that it was sheep milk which sold it.

Becuase of this reason we decided to stop paying around $3000.yr to be cetified organic but still continue our organic practices.

It is not untill now that we have increased our flock to around 300 ewes that we have made it back to market and around Australia that we have seen the need to get our certified status back!

SO HERE WE ARE IN ALL OUR GLORY! Look out for the organic range coming to your store soon!

Grandvewe has just picked up 5 medals at the Sydney Cheese and Dairy show.  The La Mancha won gold. Ewe Bewety, The Diplomat and Open Matured Pecorino got silver and Diane Rae won gold in the cheesemakers category.

Attention, all Bewetiful cheese lovers of Tasmania, we are here to let you know that we now have a Stall at SALAMANCA MARKETS every saturday up the Davey st end. Come and meet the owners and managers of our cheesery and try our latest products.

 Ciao

Our family has always been pro organic. We first started our organic way of life 9yrs ago in QLD when we planted 6 acres of various organic vegetables which we sold to local fruit stalls.

Since moving to Tasmania we have continued our organic practices with our vineyard and cheesery property for the last 4yrs. We have not chosen to be certified until now because we have only sold our cheese direct from the cheesery and there was no reason to pay $3000/yr to be certified when people would buy the product on its taste alone.

Our vision for 2008/2009 is to expand nationally into QLD, SYD, MELB, and SA. We want to sell most of our products through health food stores therefore we have applied for certification which will be granted to us around April 2008.

Look out for our new range of ORGANIC sheep cheeses coming soon!

Five years ago Diane Rae and her partner Alan Irish moved from Queensland to Tasmania to implement a "sea-change" after a life of high stress and responsibility. Alan had always had an interest in wine and was determined to buy a property that would suit a vineyard. Soon after the vineyard was planted, Diane decided that the land needed to be further utilised. After throwing ideas around as to which animal could graze the grass between the vines and possibly create a second income, dairy sheep were considered to be the best option.

Europeans have been milking sheep for centuries and for good reason. Sheep milk is very creamy and sweet. Sheep milk is also the closest animal milk to human, which means the body can digest it easily. People who are lactose intolerant can enjoy the milk, it reduces cholesterol and has double the calcium of cows milk. Having decided to milk sheep Diane attended Melbourne University to extend her knowledge of cheese making. Since then we have won numerous awards including 9 Gold Medals in prestigious dairy competitions, and a Trophy for "Best Organic Product" at the Tasmanian Fine Food Awards.

We milk 120 East Friesland ewes from lambing time in September until the following April. Each ewe gives an average of 1-2 litres of milk daily. We make over 13 different types of sheep cheese which are only available from the farm, specialist delicatessens and online. Visitors are always welcome at our farm, which is just off the Channel Highway, 3 kilometres south of Woodbridge.