Support Local!

In these trying times, small cheese makers, farmers and producers need your support more than ever. We highly recommend supporting your local community where ever you are in the world.

Here is our guide to supporting the local cheese community in California!

Curbside Pickups & Deliveries

Achadinha Cheese Co – Pickup and deliveries

Cowgirl Creamery Pt. Reyes Shop – Offering curbside pickup at their Point Reyes shop / Online shop is open

Epicurean Connection – Pickup, Delivery + Online Classes

Daily Driver SF – Offering curbside pickup and delivery

Joe Matos Cheese Co – Pickup + Online Shop

Lady & Larder – Curbside pickup, Delivery + Online Shop

Milkfarm – Curbside pickup

Nicasio Valley Cheese – Call 415.662.6205 and they will come out to meet you outside the shop / Online shop is open

Nicolau Farms – Pickup, Delivery + Online Shop

Palace Market – Open

Pennyroyal Farm – Pickup, Delivery + Online Shop

Ramini Mozzarella – Pickup at various markets, groceries and ranch

Smallgoods – Curbside pickup & delivery

Spring Hill Farmstead Cheese – Various farmer’s markets + online shop

Stuyt Dairy – Pickup + Online Shop

Air High Fives at the Cowgirl Cantina

Online Shop

Achadinha Cheese Co – Online shop is open

Central Coast Creamery – Online shop is open

Laura Chenel – Online shop is open

Marin French Cheese – Online shop is open

Pennyroyal Farm – Online shop is open

Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese – Online shop is open

Rumiano Cheese – Online shop is open

Stepladder Creamery – Online shop is open

Valley Ford Cheese – Online shop is open

Full List of Cheesemakers who Ship

Gift Certificates

Cheese School of San Francisco

Food and Farm Tours

We will continue to update this list.

If you would like to be included in this list, please send us an email at info@cheesetrail.org

Grateful to our Community

Our hearts go out to all those this week affected by the California fires.

It’s always heart-warming to see community to come out to support each other; from opening homes to evacuees, to finding room for livestock (yes!) and feeding those who are hungry.

We are grateful to the firefighters and all that helped during this time. As of Thursday, the Kincaide Fire was 60% contained. May Southern CA be on the mend soon as well.

Support local businesses that were affected by the fires as much as you can! Many of them had to stop operations for a period of time.

A Newbie’s Resources to Learning Cheese

A few handy dandy resources on exploring the cheese world.

My name is Philip and I’m Vivien’s sidekick here at the California Cheese Trail. My journey into the world of cheese started a little under a year ago. I love eating cheese and I also did not really know anything about it.

Here are my go to resources on cheese that helped me in the beginning.

Cowgirl Creamery’s Library of Cheese

The user friendly interface of the Cowgirl Creamery library and the available information on cheeses, especially California cheeses, makes this an invaluable source for discovering the world of Californian cheese.

Whole Foods Market – Guide to Cheese

Whole Foods has a nice little guide to get you started on learning more about cheese. That source, coupled with any cheesemonger at a Whole Foods cheese counter makes learning super easy.

Cutting the Curd Podcast by Heritage Radio Network

I live in Los Angeles. That means I’m always in my car driving. The Cutting the Curd podcast is an essential part of my daily life. You’ll get lots of insights into cheese trends, cheese makers and cheese retailers.

Cheese for Dummies

There are lots of great books on cheese out there. I went to my local LA Public Library branch and decided to start with Cheese for Dummies which was created by the founders of Culture Magazine. Very easy to read which is essential!

Culture: the word on cheese

Great publication on cheese! Lots of insightful interviews and articles on the cheese world.

These are all great, easy to understand resources on starting your journey. My ultimate resource is actually Vivien herself who has an incredible knowledge and insight into everything cheese and dairy!

Please reach out to us here at The California Cheese Trail and sign up for our newsletter down below!

Jenny MacKenzie of Tomales Farmstead Creamery

Original Interview by Hilary Green, ACS CCP at Marin Co. Monger

Jenny MacKenzie in the barn at Tomales Farmstead Creamery. Photo Courtesy Jenny MacKenzie

Four miles inland from the mighty Pacific ocean, a small Marin County dairy is making some of the best cheese in America. Tomales Farmstead Creamery is a 160-acre sheep and goat dairy in Tomales, California. Founded in 2003, owners Tamara Hicks and David Jablons dedicated four years to the restoration of the land, and after careful coordination with sustainable land management organizations, the farm became an Animal Welfare Approved goat and sheep dairy in 2007.

This year, Tomales Farmstead won second in its category at the American Cheese Society conference for Atika– a sheep and goat blended cheese with a beautiful, basket-weave natural rind. At the helm (or vat, as it were) for this winning batch: assistant cheesemaker Jenny MacKenzie. In my quest to better understand the world of West Marin cheese producers, I reached out to Jenny for an interview this month. Jenny is an East coast transplant with a love of cheese and sustainable agriculture. What’s the story of a micro-dairy cheesemaker whose work wins a national award? Continue below for Jenny’s story!

August 26, 2018

Marin Co. Monger: What brought you to the world of sustainable agriculture?

Jenny MacKenzie:  I started making cheese in 2014 on a very small, farmstead goat dairy, Appleton Creamery, in Appleton, ME. Working on such a a small farm and being surrounded by other types of small organic/sustainable/diverse farms at the farmer’s markets where we sold cheese really sparked my interest in sustainable agriculture. After attending the Common Ground Country Fair in Unity, ME that same year I really fell in love with small sustainable farms. Just being immersed in agriculture and learning the harms it can cause but being fortunate to see how it can be done correctly with little to no impact was so fascinating to me. I really don’t see why anyone would want to farm any other way!

To read the rest of the article visit Marin Co Monger

Hilary Green, ACS CCP

Artisan Cheese Festival

California’s main cheese event happens next weekend, Friday, the 23rd thru the 25th, in Santa Rosa. For a cheese nerd, this hits all the right buttons.

On Friday, there are farm tours (including a stop at this writer’s own farm – Straus Home Ranch – tickets are still available).

A Best Bite Competition where chefs and cheesemongers come up with their best ideas, pays tribute to those brave and hardworking, first responders of the recent fires.

On Saturday, industry experts instruct on pairings with charcuterie to beer and wine and how to judge cheese.

Then start your evening with a cheese and cocktail pairing.

On Sunday, you can start your morning with a cheese and bubbly brunch.

Then, besides the farm tours (which I LOVE), comes my own favorite event: the Sunday Marketplace. Here you meet 115 producers of cheese, wine, beer, ciders and other specialty foods. One ticket gets you access to tastes galore, including both current and new cheeses while meeting the cheesemakers themselves.

This year the festival has moved from Petaluma to the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds. But parking comes FREE with your ticket purchase.

To purchase tickets, click HERE.  See you there!