cheese vault

This is the vault in a Portuguese family-owned cheese factory in Northern California. The grandparents emigrated here many decades ago, bringing their special cows here because of the unique characteristics of the milk and the flavor created in the cheese. It’s a mild cheddar but the aroma in the vault is extremely pungent. Each wheel weighs about 30 pounds. The wheels are covered with white fuzzy mold and the job of this woman is to diligently scrape off the white mold. She is a stoic caretaker of the cheese, and was a great subject to work with. She was very cooperative and willing to moooove wherever needed for the shot.