Moxie Ridge Farm

Lee Hennessy was born and raised in Upstate New York. He left small town life to chase big dreams in California, where he worked in Hollywood and then began a career in wine, traveling around the world working for some of Napa’s best winemakers. In 2014, he found himself becoming more interested (some may say obsessed) in the artisanal cheese movement and decided to take a risk, leave his successful career, and start over at home in New York.

After several years of learning the ins and outs of goat farming and the art of cheese mongering, Lee was able to purchase a small 46-acre farm in Argyle from retiring cheesemakers David and Liza Porter. Lee single-handedly ran the farm, hand milking the goats, collecting eggs from the free range chickens, and tending to the pigs. It was hard work, but brought Lee true joy.

Today, Lee has been able to expand the farm operations and has a small staff, but he is committed to using traditional methods of farming. This “terroir” farming style makes for the best small-batch cheese as the farm animals are intrinsically linked to the land. Terroir farming is a French technique where the animals manage the land, grazing from the pastures and eating local hay and grain. Lee likes to keep it hyper local. All of the animals’ food is sourced within 10 miles of the farm. This attention to the local landscape produces unique, site specific flavors for Moxie Ridge cheese that is expressed from the goats’ diets and milk. Each goat is milked by hand twice a day because it brings out superior flavors that are lost in machine milking. Lee’s love for cheese and heritage food makes for a special product and he hopes to continue living and working on the farm for years to come. In true traditional style, Lee also employs a team of two Shire horses, Sam and Charlie, who are in charge of land and lumber management.