Milking vodka from sheep

Well, a boutique Australian sheep milking farm in Tasmania is now making a popular vodka using whey from sheep milk.

Diane Rae, an owner of the farm, Grandvewe Cheeses, was in New Zealand recently for the sheep milking conference and revealed that her son has developed the world's only sheep vodka – so they think.

A 700ml hand-painted bottle, signed by her son Ryan Hartshorn, costs $A90 – rather more than most NZ farmers get for a lamb these days. And he has made a vanilla whey liqueur which sells for $A40.

Grandvewe is a multi-faceted business based on sheep cheese making; other products are also sold in their café and function centre. And their tourist operation attracts about 40,000 visitors annually.

Rae says the cheese production is a relatively small operation

"We have about 200 dairy sheep of which we milk 80-100 each year. We process 25,000-30,000 L of milk each year, but our products are high-end and we have won numerous awards for them.

"We sell our products online, at the farm and at various gourmet foodie shows around Australia. The aim is to tell our unique story and this works well. We also sell about 10% of our products at selected stores and direct to top Australian chefs," she says.

Grandvewe makes about 12 different varieties of cheese with such appetising names as Blondie, Brebichon, Cannonball, Pamela, Pampino Sapphire Blue and White Pearl. They also produce other delicacies like sheep milk ice cream, pinot paste and smoked mutton sausage.

For help around the farm Rae uses 'woofers' who stay for a minimum of a month.

"We train them in some of the work we do, so for example they look after our sheep, help us milk them, help us pack the cheese and do a lot of the washing up in the café because we are an onfarm tourist operator as well," she says.