Jump to content

  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Artisan Cheesemakers in Sonoma

Guest MNewman

By Guest MNewman
in California: Dining

 Share

Recommended Posts

Guest MNewman

Guest MNewman

Posted
Posted

We're headed to wine country in July and in addition to our food and wine ventures, would like to tour an artisan cheesemaker. Some don't appear to do tours at all and others aren't open on the weekend (when we'll be in Sonoma).

If anyone has suggestions, I would greatly appreciate them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ludja

ludja

Posted
Posted (edited)

Cowgirl Creamery also has some demos but you'll have to check it out further to find out times, etc. It's at their shop in Pt. Reyes Station in which you can also buy lots of wonderful cheeses--and sandwiches, wines, etc. (Nice to take on a hike or to a lookout point in Pt.Reyes National Park right near by). If you contact them, they might also be able to suggest other tours, etc.

The Strauss Family Creamery also has tours to see their organic milk and cream production. I think the tours may be just once a month though so you would also need to check their website.

Do you get Saveur Magazine? The April issue from this year had a great feature on American artisanal cheesemakers, of which a fair number are in Sonoma. If you're interested, I could list some of the producers they featured so that you could then research from there...

Hope to hear back here regarding what you find out and/or do. Sounds like a fun adventure. :smile:

Edited by ludja (log)

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

Link to comment
Share on other sites
winesonoma

winesonoma

Posted
Posted
We're headed to wine country in July and in addition to our food and wine ventures, would like to tour an artisan cheesemaker.  Some don't appear to do tours at all and others aren't open on the weekend (when we'll be in Sonoma). 

If anyone has suggestions, I would greatly appreciate them.

Where are you staying? The town or the county?

:biggrin:

Bruce Frigard

Quality control Taster, Château D'Eau Winery

"Free time is the engine of ingenuity, creativity and innovation"

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ludja

ludja

Posted
Posted (edited)

One place that advertises tours is the Marin French Cheese Company in Petaluma. They say they have tours each day but that it is good to check ahead for availability. Their "Rouge et Noir" Brie style cheese recently won a big international award. I think there's a thread on egullet somewhere.

This website lists a whole lot of cheesemakers in CA; some large down to very small. Some of the smaller places don't have a retail/customer interface but you can buy their cheeses at Cowgirl Creamery (Tomales Bay Foods) in Pt. Reyes Station or at the SF Ferry Market.

The Washington Post article has some pretty good ideas--if you wanted a whole cheese day it suggests doing some of this loop starting at The Ferry Market in SF, then continuing on to Tomales Bay Foods in Pt. Reyes Station, then Marin French Cheese (5 miles away), and finally ending up in the town of Sonoma to visit Vella Cheese and another good cheeseshop, The Cheesemaker's Daughter. (Daughter of Vella).

On a completely different note, another fun food tour is to visit Scharffenberger Chocolate Factory in Oakland. More info in this thread.

Edited by ludja (log)

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest MNewman

Guest MNewman

Posted
Posted (edited)

We're at the Vintner's Inn in Sonoma. Winery visits are already confirmed since I knew it would crowded during the holiday weekend.

We figured a Sonoma cheesemaker would be a nice way to sober up and learn something at the same time. As always, thank you very much for the suggestions...I will start calling tomorrow.

Edited by MNewman (log)
Link to comment
Share on other sites
winesonoma

winesonoma

Posted
Posted
We're at the Vintner's Inn in Sonoma.  Winery visits are already confirmed since I knew it would crowded during the holiday weekend. 

We figured a Sonoma cheesemaker would be a nice way to sober up and learn something at the same time.  As always, thank you very much for the suggestions...I will start calling tomorrow.

Eat at Cafe Le Haye or La Sallette

Bruce Frigard

Quality control Taster, Château D'Eau Winery

"Free time is the engine of ingenuity, creativity and innovation"

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 months later...
ludja

ludja

Posted
Posted
One place that advertises tours is the Marin French Cheese Company in Petaluma.  They say they have tours each day but that it is good to check ahead for availability.  Their "Rouge et Noir" Brie style cheese recently won a big international award.  I think there's a thread on egullet somewhere.

...

Just noticed in rereading this thread that sangiovese had previously mentioned the Marin French Cheese Company above...

Anyway, we had a chance to visit there a few weeks ago. We called ahead in case we had to set up a time for the tour, but were only able to leave a phone message. (Message was not returned, but we only called the same day, early in the morning). We decided to head up anyway as we had a bunch of other plans in the area as well. It turned out that they were not giving tours that day b/c they were cleaning the facility, so if you're going out of your way, you may want to double check ahead of time. I think they also mentioned that the longer tours are during the week, rather than the weekends.

The farm is located in a beautiful spot, reached by a lovely drive from Petaluma or an exit or two south of the town off of 101. The property has a small lake surrounded with trees and picnic tables right next to the store/factory. So, it could be a very nice place for a picnic or to have some bread and cheese, etc. There were lots of families there and the kids were having fun running around the lake looking at the duck and/or fishing.

Regarding the cheese though, I have to say it was not exactly what we were expecting in that the cheeses, in our opinion, tended more towards the commercial rather the artisanal. The prices reflect this so it could be a good value if you enjoy the cheeses. We thought some of them were nice but not particulary distinctive (say, in the way, Cowgirl Creamery cheeses are). Their selection included many flavored bries such as garlic, pesto, black pepper, jalapeno, etc. For what they were, we enjoyed these better than the award winning triple creme which was bland in flavor compared to French triple cremes I've tasted.

I don't want to be too negative, but on the other hand, I would warn against expectations on par with some of the other small Sonoma cheesemakers. If you're in the neighborhood, though, you may enjoy a visit, especially if you have children.

"Under the dusty almond trees, ... stalls were set up which sold banana liquor, rolls, blood puddings, chopped fried meat, meat pies, sausage, yucca breads, crullers, buns, corn breads, puff pastes, longanizas, tripes, coconut nougats, rum toddies, along with all sorts of trifles, gewgaws, trinkets, and knickknacks, and cockfights and lottery tickets."

-- Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1962 "Big Mama's Funeral"

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...