At Reypenaer they lovingly and faithfully strive to achieve the finest taste development in their cheeses. This is done in their historic cheese-ripening warehouse, dating from 1906, in Woerden, the Netherlands. Here they ripen their prize-winning cheese using age-old traditional methods. Their cheese are used by the best Chefs and in every country in the world.

The International Butler Academy & Reypenaer Along with the ripening conditions, craftsmanship is every bit as important. It is the craftsmanship built on decades of experience that enables the cheese maker to best guide the ripening process towards the desired taste. The Netherlands is already known for its fine cheeses. De Reypenaer is one of the finest cheeses in the world.

Students of The International Butler Academy visit the old Reypenaer warehouse and are taught about fine cheeses by Mr. Ron Pieters, the Cheese Tasting Master. Of course an extensive tasting is part of the program.

Crucial for the taste development of cheeses is the affinage. They give these cheeses all the time they need to develop their rich taste, and the ripening conditions are an essential part of this. Rather than keeping environmental conditions constant, de Reypenaer let nature have its way with fluctuations in air temperature and humidity. In this natural ripening (known in the trade as drying), the proportional weight loss of the cheese is significant. This makes de Reypenaer cheeses flatter than similar types of cheeses ripened industrially. (Factory cheese is ripened by keeping the temperature artificially low and humidity artificially high to be able to sell the cheeses as quickly as possible with the minimum loss of weight.) Through the natural ripening process, Reypenaer cheeses actually lose approximately one-quarter of their original weight.
 

Tasting Room

Amsterdam

Reypenaer Cheese

Reypenaer Cheese