This seasonal cheese from Cowgirl Creamery is a delight.
“Chimney Rock, starts with organic Holstein milk from John and Karen Taylor’s Bivalve Dairy in Point Reyes. The rich bloomy rind cheese is spritzed with wine then dusted with ground organic shiitake mushrooms, summer savory and black pepper.
The result is a beautiful cheese that offers piquant, earthy flavors balanced by high notes of orange blossom and apricot.
Chimney Rock is named for one of the most spectacular hikes in all of Point Reyes, located at the end of a land bridge that’s surrounded by lush meadows and cool breezes.”
Get this cheese from your local cheese shop! It’s a fan favorite from Cowgirl Creamery.
– Information from the Cowgirl Creamery Library of Cheese
“Each limited edition, handcrafted wheel features smoky chipotles mixed into the paste and a distinctive ribbon of Dick Taylor dark chocolate through the center.
You’ll also enjoy buttermilk and fresh cream, complemented with floral notes, herbaceous overtones, and a clean citrus finish.
As Humboldt Fog Chipotle Cacao Remix matures, the creamline develops and the flavor intensifies.” – Cypress Grove
You will love this limited edition remix. Visit your local cheese shop and try this new cheese from Cypress Grove.
Quinta, a farmstead cheese, is a soft-ripened, bloomy rind cheese, inspired by the very famous, seasonally-made Vacherin Mont d’Or from Switzerland, near the border of France close to the mountain d’Or.
Made on the farm from the dairy’s own pasteurized cows’ milk, the wheel is wrapped in Spruce bark. You eat it by cutting off the top layer and scooping out the insides with a spoon.
“Why Quinta? This name is especially meaningful to the Giacomini family (the owners of Point Reyes Farmstead) for two reasons.
First, Quinta means Farmstead in Portuguese. Their maternal grandparents were from Portugal so this cheese honors their mother and their Ferreira family heritage.
Second, Quinta means Fifth in Spanish. This cheese just happens to be the fifth product in their core line-up, so, as the family tells, “the name also has significance for our primarily Latinx staff that work so hard (day-in-and-day-out) to make all of our cheeses wonderful.” – Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co
Scroll through your Instagram feed these days and you’ll find people taking their cheese board designs to the next level. What’s great is that you can really use anything you want. You can be creative and use cheeses, fruits and ingredients that you like.
Be you and let your personality shine through! Here are 5 of our favorites this month!
Ah the holidays are here. That also means our favorite seasonal cheeses are back!
Cowgirl Creamery’s seasonal Devil’s Gulch
Cowgirl Creamery’s winter seasonal cheese, Devil’s Gulch, starts with organic Holstein milk from John and Karen Taylor’s Bivalve Dairy. The rich, bloomy rind wheels are dusted with a mixture of sweet and spicy ground heirloom peppers from Allstar Organics.
Flavor notes: Bright, sweet spice tempered by the rich creaminess of the paste
Devil’s Gulch is named for a narrow ravine carved along the base of Mt. Barnaby, just down the road from the Allstar Organic Farm in Marin County.
Here we have a limited-edition cheese made with fresh goat milk, diced cranberries and a touch of cinnamon.
Enjoy the combination of sweet-tart cranberries and tangy fresh goat cheese all season long crumbled over an autumn salad, in a sandwich, or paired with dried fruit, candied nuts, charcuterie and celebratory libations.
Sonoma County, CA (Oct. 15, 2019) — Celebrate two of NorCal’s favorite flavors when California’s original goat cheese creamery teams up with another California creamery known for its outrageous ice cream flavors and creative collaborations. Sonoma goat cheese producer Laura Chenel and celebrated sparkling wine producer Domaine Carneros join Humphry Slocombe to launch an exclusive new flavor for the San Francisco ice creamery’s November edition of the 2019 Classic Cocktail Series.
Humphry Slocombe Co-Founder
Jake Godby brings his unorthodox ice cream alchemy to Wine & Cheese Ice
Cream. The flavor is a part of a year-long boozy series showcasing special
flavors inspired by classic cocktails. This creation features Laura
Chenel Original Chef’s Chevre® ice cream with swirls of Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir sorbet mixed in — a combination that will
transport you to wine country. This is the
first flavor collaboration with Laura Chenel and the third flavor collaboration
with Domaine Carneros, the others being Cherry Fizz in 2018 and Rosé all Day
Sorbet in 2017.
Laura Chenel Original Chef’s
Chevre is the smooth, creamy go-to goat cheese for
chefs nationwide. Handcrafted with fresh goat milk from family-owned farms in
the American West and boasting better digestibility than cow’s milk cheese,
Laura Chenel Chef’s Chevre has the classic tangy flavor of fresh goat cheese
with a spreadable texture perfect for melting into sauces and whipping into
cheesecake or — in this case — ice cream.
Iconic, irreverent and
fearless when it comes to flavor development, Humphry Slocombe is famous for
churning out unusual and creative flavor collaborations with high-profile
brands such as Emmy-winning show Queer Eye (Cookies + Graham); Virgin Atlantic
(Butter by Moonlight with brown butter and blueberry glaze); San Francisco
Brewing Co. (Dynasty Stout); and Chef Melissa King and Whole Foods Market
(Mango Mojito). Its signature (and enduringly popular) flavor, Secret
Breakfast, features bourbon ice cream with cornflakes.
Laura Chenel CEO
Eric Barthome says his company is excited to collaborate with two complementary
top-quality Northern California brands doing
something fun and unusual with products that symbolize the exceptional
character of the Bay Area.
“Wine & Cheese Ice Cream celebrates the Bay Area’s terroir and
craft with iconic Laura Chenel goat cheese from Sonoma County and the Carneros[1]
based Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir which are sure to be an outstanding
combination with Humphry Slocombe’s expertise,” says Barthome.
“With all respect
to peanut butter and chocolate, I think wine and cheese is the original ‘two
great tastes that taste great together’ and that in the form of ice cream is
unique and delicious,” says Jake Godby, co-founder and chef at Humphry
Slocombe.
“I am a huge fan
of dessert, and working with Humphry Slocombe over the years has been a great
excuse to indulge my weakness and share it with our loyal fans,” states Eileen
Crane, CEO of Domaine Carneros. “I’m particularly excited about the
daring quality of this new flavor. We grow multiple clones of Pinot Noir
on all our single vineyards and this promises to be a sheer delight.”
Starting Nov. 4,
Wine & Cheese Ice Cream is available by the scoop and hand-packed pints at
all Humphry Slocombe scoop shops including the Ferry Building and Mission
District shops in San Francisco, The Hive in Oakland and the College Avenue
shop in Berkeley. Look for it by the pint at the Domaine Carneros chateau. Available
online at GoldBelly.
About Laura Chenel
Laura Chenel
introduced a new chapter in American cheese in 1979 when she started making
farmstead goat cheese with milk from her own goats using techniques she learned
in France.
Today, Laura
Chenel still embodies its founding namesake’s pioneering spirit as a leading
producer of fresh and aged goat cheeses and goat yogurts crafted with fresh
goat’s milk from family-owned farms in California, Oregon, Nevada and Idaho.
Located in the heart of Sonoma County, Laura Chenel is the first creamery in
the U.S. to be awarded the prestigious LEED Gold certification and its
commitment to sustainable practices, including solar energy and recycling, is
helping preserve the terroir for generations to come.
Rebellious and
unapologetic, Humphry Slocombe’s ice cream has its own personality and flavors
that appeal to adult tastes but is loved by all. Humphry Slocombe has almost
300K followers on social media and was recently named one of “San Francisco’s
Most Delicious Instagram Accounts” by 7X7 Magazine. It has also attracted
attention from the national press including feature articles in The New York
Times Magazine and Bon Appétit and several television appearances,
such as the “Top 5 Ice Creams in America” spot by Food Network.
Welcome to the
bizarre, delicious, frozen universe of Humphry Slocombe.
Founded in 1987, Domaine Carneros reflects the hallmark of its founder, Champagne Taittinger, in creating a vision of terroir-driven sparkling wine while preserving the quality tenets of the traditional method production. Located entirely within the Carneros AVA, between Napa and Sonoma Valleys, the six estate vineyards total approximately 400 acres with 125 acres planted to Chardonnay, 225 acres planted to Pinot Noir, with the remaining acres currently in development. The winery focuses on making ultra-premium Carneros sparkling wines and limited production Pinot Noirs.
Domaine Carneros’ château has become a landmark and symbol of the region. The architecture and interior design were inspired by the 18th century Château de la Marquetterie, the Taittinger family residence in the Champagne region. The winery also places a high value on preserving the environment and has farmed sustainably since the late 1980s. The roof of the pinot noir winery adjacent to the château hosts a solar array that was the largest on any winery in the world when it was installed. Eileen Crane, CEO & Founding Winemaker, has overseen 31 harvests at the château and in 2018 celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of the winery’s luxury cuvée, Le Rêve Blanc de Blancs.
For you cheese lovers out there getting ready to tie the knot or just have any occasion to celebrate, get inspired by these gorgeous cheese cakes! It’s the ultimate way to celebrate your love for cheese, we mean, each other!
The year is 1886, when Mateo Fiscalini emigrates from Switzerland with his family. First finding work on the railroad, he eventually settles all the way west in Cambria, California.
In 1912, Mateo’s son, John Baptiste Fiscalini, a graduate from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, purchases 160 acres of land in Modesto. Two years later he starts a dairy farm with ten cows.
By 1995, two generations later, the Fiscalini farm has a large herd of Holstein cows. And in 2001, John Fiscalini, the grandson of John Baptiste, who has dreamt of making cheese, is introduced to Mariano Gonzalez, master cheddar-maker from Paraguay. Mariano develops a bandage-wrapped cheddar, sweeping up many awards, and giving British cheeses a run for their money.
Today, Fiscalini Cheese produces award-winning cheeses with the knowledge and spirit of four generations of family behind them. And, best of all, you can visit them.
Stop by their farm and creamery (yes, the cows are right there!) to pick up cheese in their front office. If you feel like making it a bigger cheese journey, Fiscalini can be just one of your stops on the Central Valley Cheese Loop #1.
This month you can find Fiscalini’s San Joaquin Gold on promotion at Whole Foods Market in Northern California. San Joaquin Gold is an Italian-style, semi-hard cheese made from raw cow’s milk. It is named after the beautiful San Joaquin valley where it is made.
Laura Chenel, a real person, began making cheese in the 1970s in Sonoma County. After one goat turned to many, and she had to figure out how to use the milk, she began making cheese. After stumbling a bit, she headed to France, to learn from other cheesemaking families.
Once back in U.S., Laura began selling her now, stellar cheese. Alice Waters, the owner of Chez Panisse, tried it, and fell in love. She began ordering 50 pounds a week, while creating a now-familiar recipe. Alice breaded and baked slices of the Laura’s chèvre (Chevre, by the way, is the French word for cheese, and is used to refer to fresh, spreadable goat cheese), then laid the disks on a bed of mesclun greens. Voila! Goat cheese salad was born.
Photo Courtesy of Laura Chenel
Many other goat cheesemakers followed in her footsteps, making goat cheese a national staple.
In 2006, Laura sold her company to Rians, a French company owned by the Triballat family, who later also purchased Marin French Cheese Company.
Chevre is not only a great topping for salads, you can put it on pizza or pasta. You can also use it as a substitute in recipes calling for sour cream or ricotta. It has a wonderful bite for those who love tang in their foods. This chèvre comes plain or flavored with various herbs.
Photo Courtesy of Laura Chenel
Though Laura Chenel is not open to the public, you can pick up cheese at the Marin French and picnic by the lake, or one of many other retail shops.
