Lively Run Goat Dairy

Cayuga Blue labeled as a favorite of Kathleen Cotter from The Bloomy Rind Cheese Shop in “Calling all Cheese Lovers!,” by Style Blueprint Magazine.

A group of seven women, including Lively Run owner, Susanne Messmer, represented the Finger Lakes region at the James Beard Foundation’s Finger Lakes Winter Fantasy event in New York City on Jan.18, 2020.

Featured in the article “Meet the 7 Finger Lakes’ women invited to the prestigious James Beard House,” by the Ithaca Voice.

Featured on the James Beard House’s article, “How 7 Women Brought the Finger Lakes to the Beard House.”

The Finger Lakes Gold Reserve aged goat cheese won first place in its class of “Goat’s Milk Cheese Aged Over 60 Days” and was a best-of-show finalist, ranking it in the top 15 out of 1,742 products submitted in the 2019 American Cheese Society (ACS) Cheese Contest.

Learn more here. 

Lively Run Cayuga Blue was awarded First Place in its class at the 2017 American Cheese Society Cheese Contest in Denver.

Held in a different city every year, the annual American Cheese Society Cheese Contest is one of the most prestigious cheese competitions in the US. 2017 was another record-breaking year for ACS, with over 281 companies from all over the US and Canada entering more than 2,020 different products across a broad spectrum of categories. The contest entries were evaluated by a team of 44 judges from all over the world.

Learn more here. 

Lively Run Dairy named “Favorite Food Artisan” in the 2019 Local Hero Awards by Edible Finger Lakes.

Lively Run Dairy featured in “Finger Lakes Cheese on the Rise” by Wine Enthusiast

Cayuga Blue featured in Epicurious recipe, “Cayuga Blue Champignons.”

Cayuga Blue featured in “The Cheesemonger: Cayuga Blue” by the Kitchn.

Cayuga Blue was labeled one of the “The 25 Most Important Cheeses in America, According to Cheese Experts,” by Bon Appetit.

Cayuga Blue Featured in “Be a curd nerd: 6 summer cheeses to try right now,” by the Washington Post in 2015.

Lively Run Dairy won the 2015 NYS Small Business Development Center‘s Agricultural Business of the Year. We were recognized for our 2012-2014 expansions of our cheese facility, products, and cheese shop, growth of our agritourism business, and 450% increase in net income. Thank you Ken Homer of Binghamton SBDC for your consulting.

Lively Run Dairy was featured in Laura Falk’s book, Culinary History in the Finger Lakes: From the Three Sisters to Riesling. The book celebrates the relationship of the people of the region, to the gifts of the land. Each chapter’s culinary story is highlighted with recipes created by our top regional chefs that evoke the spirit of the times paired with current FLX wines.

Find out more.

Lively Run Dairy was featured in the article, “Goats: Talk with the kids and taste the cheese at Lively Run Dairy in Seneca County” by the The Post-Standard in Syracuse

Lively Run Dairy was featured in “3 Perfect Days in the Finger Lakes,” an article by United Airlines’ Hemisphere Magazine.

Lively Run’s Finger Lakes Gold scored 97.3 in the 2014 World Cheese Championship Contest under the Hard Goat Cheese Category.

Every year Edible Finger Lakes runs a contest where their readers vote for their favorite Farm/Farmer, Chef/Restaurant, Non-Profit, Culinary and Beverage Artisans and Local Food or Wine Retailer. We were the winners for Favorite Culinary Artisan in 2014. It is highlighted in the Edible Finger Lakes 2014 March/April issue.

Lively Run Goat Dairy was featured in the article “Beyond Milk: Cheeses and Yogurts of the Finger Lakes” in Life in the Finger Lakes Magazine in Fall of 2003.

Lively Run Goat Dairy was featured in Gourmet Magazine in March of 2004.

Lively Run Goat Dairy was featured in Gourmet Magazine in July of 2005.

Lively Run Herbs De Provence Chèvre was featured in the “Cheese of Note” in Autumn 2011.

“Sold in a 4-ounce log, it’s rich, creamy and tangy—all that good goat cheese should be—but then the provençale blend mimics the classic flavorings of Provence, France, like thyme, fennel, oregano, rosemary, marjoram and lavender. That makes it a good standalone for cheese platters, but it’s also excellent tossed in crisp green salads, spread on cool summer sandwiches, and melted on gourmet grilled pizzas.” – Holly Howell

Lively Run Goat Dairy and other Finger Lakes Cheese Trail friends were featured in the “Cheese Issue” of Edible Finger Lakes.

Lively Run Goat Dairy was featured in Saveur Magazine’s top 50 favorite American cheeses in 2005.

Cayuga Blue was featured in culture Magazine’s “Tangled up in Blues,” an article about American goat’s milk cheeses.

Lively Run Goat Dairy won “Best Artisanal Finger Lakes Cheese” in the 2013 Finger Lakes Food Revolution Foodie Award competition. The competition’s first phase collects nominations made by the general public which are then judged by professional foodies. The Finger Lakes cheese industry is very competitive and Lively Run Goat Dairy feels honored to have won this award.

In The All American Cheese and Wine Book Laura Werlin guides the reader through matching the artisanal cheese found across America with perfectly paired wines. She also gives an overview of the 7 different cheeses, gives profiles of 50 American cheese makers, and recipes for dishes that use cheese. Lively Run Goat Dairy was listed within the 50 American cheese makers and also was featured throughout the book. Laura Werlin complimented the Cayuga Blue in her book by saying that “The Cayuga Blue is as capricious as are the Messmers’ animals – but it is always excellent. It has a thin rustic-looking skin and a round, rich, full-bodied flavor that ranks among the top blue cheeses in the nation, and is perhaps the finest goats’ milk blue.”

“Lively Run Goat Dairy represents the very best of American cheese making — people quietly going about their way tending to their animals and to the land. In turn, this translates to extraordinary cheeses that are created with little fanfare, great milk, and a whole lot of skill and flavor” Laura Werlin

Lively Run Cayuga Blue was featured in a listing of “Best American Cheese in the United States” in Food and Wine magazine in 2007.