<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=00hPSH_1Gnd42kS00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=00hPSH_1Gnd42kS00" width="1024" height="576" ><figcaption>Image Courtesy Wegmans</figcaption></figure>Charlotte cheese lovers can sample a variety of cheeses from the new Wegmans store that opened at 11550 N. Community House Road in Ballantyne. The opening of Wegmans in October saw more than 25,000 customers, breaking a weekday record, according to the Charlotte Observer. Many of the customers came to sample the cheeses that come from Wegmans' cheese-aging facility located in Rochester, New York.The Rochester facility, which opened in 2014, spans 12,300 square feet and holds seven custom-built cheese caves, plus one dedicated to aging Brie cheeses. Each cave measures between 185 and 200 square feet, with only one variety in each cave at a time.A decade ago, Wegmans brought Mathieu Callol, a master affineur from France, to manage the cheese caves. He holds a master's degree in dairy production and biotechnology, and spent six years in cheesemaking research and development. Callol looks after about 50 cheeses, and his team of nine full-time workers flips, brushes, and washes each block or wheel of cheese."The cool thing about cheese and cheesemaking is you never stop learning," Callol said, according to The Charlotte Observer. Every Monday, the team tastes the cheeses and scores them on a five-point scale for rind, taste, texture, and aroma. "We are concerned about quality. We are not concerned about time." Wegmans had teamed up with Wisconsin engineers and bought French equipment to build the Rochester facility. Inside, the air stays between 50 and 54 degrees, and staff adjust the humidity and airflow by hand. Cathy Gaffney, vice president of specialty cheese and deli at Wegmans, noted that the company needed special permission from regulators to ripen cheese at those temperatures.The concept of making cheeses for Wegmans instead of importing them from France, which takes about six to eight weeks by ship, started in 2008, with former CEO Danny Wegman, who is now chairman. "He always felt that if we could have our soft ripe cheeses, our bries, be perfectly ripe, that would set us apart from our competition," said Gaffney.The caves hold three kinds of cheese: those from outside vendors, Wegmans-branded bries, and cheeses found nowhere else. The 1916 goat cheese, made with Vermont Creamery, honors the year Wegmans was founded. Others include We Be Chivin, Truffle Shuffle, and Sake 2 Me, which is Mathieu Callol's favorite. One of the most popular soft cheeses at Wegmans is the Professor's Brie made with cow and sheep milk by Old Chatham Creamery.The cheeses are delivered to the store late Thursday or early Friday morning. Staff then load them into French-designed affinage cases, and the cheeses sell out within seven to 10 days.The Ballantyne store has over 110,000 square feet and is the 115th Wegmans location and the southernmost one. The 1,500 cheese department employees across all the stores go through an internal cheese certification program. With the cheese knowledge the employees gain, they can share information with customers about the 350 varieties of cheeses Wegmans sells, about 30 of them seasonal."When you go into one of our stores, we want you to feel like you're in a Mediterranean market," Gaffney said, according to the Charlotte Observer. “Triple Creme brie is not always on your shopping list. And customers can always ask to try a cheese before they buy it.”</div></body>

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Charlotte cheese lovers can sample a variety of cheeses from the new Wegmans store that opened at 11550 N. Community House Road in Ballantyne. The opening of Wegmans in October saw more than 25,000 customers, breaking a weekday record, according to the Charlotte Observer. Many of the customers came to sample the cheeses that come from Wegmans' cheese-aging facility located in Rochester, New York.

Wegmans Unveils High-Tech Cheese Program at New Charlotte Store

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Charlotte cheese lovers can sample a variety of cheeses from the new Wegmans store that opened at 11550 N. Community House Road in Ballantyne. The opening 

Wegmans Unveils High-Tech Cheese Program at New Charlotte Store

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