CALIFORNIA
miles south, at William Cofield Cheesemakers, Keith Adams and Rob Hunter make British-style cheddar and stilton in a corrugated shed at The Barlow, an outdoor shopping area with clothes stores, cafes and beauty salons. Like garagiste winemakers, who source grapes from others’ vineyards, the pair buy their milk from regional dairies. These are all stops on the California Cheese Trail,
an online map, app, and guide that pinpoints 40-odd artisan producers across the state — 16 of them in Sonoma and Marin. Touring and tasting at farms and creameries along the route is an increasingly popular option for those looking for something to do between wine-tastings in Sonoma and nearby Napa. At Ramini Mozzarella, visitors can sample platters of
delicate, creamy and softly spongy buffalo mozzarella before brushing ‘the babies’, as Audrey calls them. It’s the only farm in California making buffalo mozzarella; its uniqueness unusual in the North Bay, an area that runs the gamut of cheese styles. These range from silky cream cheeses to aged, Italian-style hard varieties, and from springy asiago to blue cheeses. The milk comes from goats, cows and sheep. There’s no regional speciality; if anything, the
defining characteristic is that there isn’t one. Just as Sonoma’s wineries successfully grow grapes from pinot noir to zinfandel, the varied terroir here imbues cheeses with a range of different qualities, with the seasons overlaying additional nuances of taste and texture. Audrey explains that Ramini’s delicate mozzarella, for example, tends to have the “sweetness of grass” in spring and summer, especially when there’s been decent rainfall. “It’s more minerally in winter,” she adds.
Cow heaven At the Achadinha Cheese Company, a family-run, hilltop farm just outside the town of Petaluma, Sonoma, Donna Pacheco supplements her cows’ diet of grass with fermented mash grain from local breweries. She believes this, along with naturally occurring yeasts that drift through the air here, lends complex flavour profiles to her cheeses, which range from addictive squeaky curds to six-month-aged broncha, which dances between fruit and pepper. “Different breweries impart different flavours,” she
tells me, as we stroll through open-sided barns housing toffee-hued Jersey cows and Nubian goats (Donna tells me the latter aren’t fed the brewers’ grain anymore because “they were staggering”). “It’s like a vintage,” she adds. “It gives each cheese a different taste.” The California Cheese Trail has been hugely beneficial
to farms like the Achadinha Cheese Company, which now runs tours and cheesemaking classes. This is exactly what Vivien Straus, a local with years of experience in dairy production, was hoping for when she devised the trail in 2011, she tells me. Vivien, who grew up on her family’s dairy in Marshall, California, was keen to help struggling farmers stay in business by creating interest in agritourism. “More cheesemakers, due to the map [of the trail], are now open to the public and it’s become a crucial part of their businesses,” Vivien says. “One told me that it sends them 80% of their business.” Some people might be surprised that the US produces
any decent cheese at all — a prejudice that seems to stem from sticky slices slapped on burgers and bags
NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.CO.UK/FOOD-TRAVEL 55
LOCAL HEROES Five cheeses to try in Sonoma and Marin
FOGGY MORNING, NICASIO VALLEY CHEESE COMPANY This fromage blanc–style award- winner is wonderfully fresh and milky. Its purity allows the terroir to shine — from the sweetness of the grazing pastures to the subtle, salty tang of the misty morning fog.
nicasiocheese.com
RED HAWK, COWGIRL CREAMERY The cheese that put this creamery on the map was created by accident, when a batch of the signature Mt Tam developed a red crust instead of its usual white bloom. With umami and peanut flavours, it’s like chicken satay in cheese form.
cowgirlcreamery.com
TRIPLE CREME BRIE WITH TRUFFLES, MARIN FRENCH CHEESE Founded in 1865, Marin French Cheese is the US’s longest continuously operating cheese
company, and its triple-cream cheeses — where extra cream is added to the milk — have won international awards. This truffle-speckled specimen has a mushroomy quality that cuts through the sweetness.
marinfrenchcheese.com
ORIGINAL BLUE, POINT REYES FARMSTEAD CHEESE COMPANY This raw milk cheese is as meltingly creamy as semifreddo, with veins of blue. It’s peppery and fruity, with a hint of Pacific fog and salty air.
pointreyescheese.com
MEZZO SECCO, VELLA CHEESE COMPANY Based in downtown Sonoma, Vella is known for its Monterey Jack cheese. The dry Mezzo Secco is particularly striking, aged for up to seven months and coated with a fine black pepper crust that gives way to a sweet, creamy and subtly spicy cheese.
vellacheese.com
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