Q: Where can I purchase your cheese?
A: Retailers and restaurants across the country are purveyors of our products. Many businesses purchase our cheeses through specialty food distributors, a necessary and valuable function in the supply chain. When working with distributors, we often are not aware of the "final destination" of our cheeses. Your best bet is to ask for our cheeses by brand name (i.e. Buttermilk Blue from Roth Käse USA) — your cheesemonger should be able to source any of our cheeses for you. Send us an email if you are looking for a particular Roth Käse variety, and we'll do our best to track down a retail outlet in your area. Alternatively, check out the store section of our website.
Q: Can I take a tour of your facility?
A: Absolutely! Our chalet-style plant in Monroe, Wisconsin manufactures specialty cheeses Monday through Friday and occasional Saturdays. Our viewing hall allows you to observe the cheesemaking process, and is open to the public. It is recommended that larger groups call ahead to the Alp and Dell retail store (connected to our plant) to reserve a date and time: 608-328-3355. Bruno, the proprietor of the store, is generally available to host larger tour groups. We also recommend checking out the Historic Cheesemaking Center in Monroe for more information about the long-standing cheesemaking traditions in Green County: 2108 6th Avenue, Monroe, Wisconsin 53566, tel: 608-325-4636
Q: When is the best time to visit?
A: Our cheesemakers get an early start to the day, so the best times to catch some action in the viewing hall are from 9:00am to 1:00pm. Alp and Dell Store and Roth Käse Viewing Hall Hours:
Monday – Friday: 9:00am — 6:00pm
Saturday: 9:00am — 5:00pm
Sunday: 10:00am — 5:00pm
The store and viewing hall are Sundays in January and February, every major holiday.
Q: Are your cheeses suitable for vegetarians?
A: The main concern for vegetarians is the type of rennet, or coagulant, that is utilized in the cheesemaking process. The majority of Roth Käse cheeses, including signature varieties, such as Grand Cru Gruyère, Buttermilk Blue, MezzaLuna Fontina, and GranQueso are crafted with vegetarian rennet from GMO-free micro-organisms. The following cheeses are crafted with animal-derived rennet: Vintage Van Gogh, Rofumo, Kronenost Swedish-style Fontina, Donovan's Double Diamond Darby, Bambina Fontina. If you have any questions about a particular variety, please feel free to drop us a line: info@rothkase.com.
Q: Are Roth Käse Cheeses Gluten-Free?
A: We take numerous precautions to inhibit cross-contamination of allergens, including gluten, during the production and packaging of our cheeses. All of the cheeses produced by Roth Käse fall below the FDA's proposed definition for gluten free products of 20 ppm (parts per million). In fact, all of Roth Käse cheeses are below the detectable threshold for gliadin (the detectable component of gluten) of 5 ppm.
The blue mold cultures used to make our blue-veined cheeses are grown on bread that contains gluten. The mold incubation process and subsequent purification of the culture reduces the amount of gluten in the cheese cultures. In the cheese making process, a small amount of this culture (approximately 100 mg per 200 liters of milk) is used per vat, resulting in further dilution.
Testing of the finished product has shown that all of Roth Käse's blue-veined cheeses have less than the detectable limit of 5 ppm of gliadin (the detectable component of gluten). This is far below the FDA's proposed definition for gluten free products of 20 ppm. Testing covered the manufacturing processes for our range of blue-veined cheeses, which include: Buttermilk Blue, Buttermilk Bleu Affinée, Mezzaluna Gorgonzola and Moody Blue.