Sonoma County is located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. It is to the north of Marin County and the south of Mendocino County. It is west of Napa and Lake Counties.
Brie is a soft cow's-milk cheese named after Brie, the French region from which it originated. It is pale in color with a slight grayish tinge under a rind of white mould. The rind is typically eaten, with its flavor depending largely upon the ingredients used and its manufacturing environment. It is similar to Camembert, which is native to a different region of France. Brie typically contains between 60% and 75% butterfat, slightly higher than Camembert.
Goat cheese, goat's cheese, or chèvre is cheese made from goat's milk. Goats were among the first animals to be domesticated for producing food. Goat cheese is made around the world with a variety of recipes, giving many different styles of cheeses, from fresh and soft to aged and hard.
The North Bay is a subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States. The largest city is Santa Rosa, which is the fifth-largest city in the Bay Area. It is the location of the Napa and Sonoma wine regions, and is the least populous and least urbanized part of the Bay Area. It consists of Marin, Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties.
Clover Sonoma, formerly Clover Stornetta Farms is a dairy company located in Sonoma County, California, along the Pacific coast in Northern California. It is a brand that has existed since the early 1900s, when the Petaluma Cooperative Creamery served the city of Petaluma. In 1977, Clover Stornetta Farms, Inc. was formed from the joining of two separate companies: Stornetta's Dairy and the Petaluma Cooperative Creamery. Clover Sonoma currently has farms in Sonoma County, Marin County, and Mendocino County, California. In 2021, Clover Sonoma launched Clover the Rainbow, a sister dairy brand that makes a line of kids organic yogurt smoothies.
Coulommiers is a soft ripened cheese from Coulommiers, Seine-et-Marne, France. It is made from cow's milk, and is usually in the shape of a disc with white, bloomy, edible Penicillium candidum rind. When produced as an artisanal or "farmhouse" cheese from unpasteurized milk, it has some reddish blush in parts of the rind. The period of ripening when made of pasteurised whole milk is about four to six weeks. The fat content is 40 per cent.
Cowgirl Creamery is a company located in Point Reyes Station, California, which manufactures artisan cheeses. Founded in 1994, the company manufactures its own cheeses and sells other imported and domestic cheese and fine artisan foods. Its own cheeses include Red Hawk and Mt. Tam. Until April 2021, the company operated a storefront in the Ferry Building of San Francisco. Founders Peggy Smith and Sue Conley worked for years in the kitchens of the Bay Area, and Alice Waters' Chez Panisse, where Peggy worked for many years, is among many Bay Area establishments to incorporate cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery into its menu.
Beecher's Handmade Cheese is an artisan cheesemaker and retail shop with locations in the Pike Place Market, Seattle, Washington and New York City's Flatiron District. The company was founded by Kurt Beecher Dammeier in 2003 and opened in the Pike Place Market after Dammeier obtained a difficult to obtain storefront lease in the Market. Because Dammeier had never been a cheesemaker, he sought out the assistance of Brad Sinko, who helped run a family cheese-making business in Oregon. A second location was opened in 2011 in the Flatiron neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City.
Artisanal cheese refers to cheeses produced by hand using the traditional craftsmanship of skilled cheesemakers. As a result, the cheeses are often more complex in taste and variety. Many are aged and ripened to achieve certain aesthetics. This contrasts with the more mild flavors of mass-produced cheeses produced in large-scale operations, often shipped and sold right away.
Winchester Cheese Company was an artisan cheese producer in the town of Winchester, California, in Riverside County, Southern California.
Chèvréchard is a French cheese manufacturer specializing in goat cheeses. It is located in the goat-cheese producing region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. In January 2007, the French dairy cooperative Valcrest acquired a 35% interest in the company, with the expectation of acquiring the balance later that year.
Vermont Creamery is a creamery and artisanal cheese and butter-maker in Websterville, Vermont, USA. It was founded in 1984 by business partners Allison Hooper and Bob Reese. Previously known as the Vermont Butter and Cheese Company, the company adopted its current name in 2013.
Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company is an artisanal cheese company located in Point Reyes Station in Marin County, California with dairy farmland located in the Point Reyes area. The company received the 2013 California Leopold Conservation Award, and has been featured on the Today Show. The company was founded by Bob Giacomini and his four daughters, Karen Howard, Diana Hagan, Lynn Stray and Jill Basch. Co-founder Dean Mae Giacomini, Mr. Giacomini's wife, died in 2012. The company is now WBENC-certified Women-Owned and led by Co-CEOs Jill, Lynn and Diana. The Point Reyes dairy's operations began in 1959. The cheese company was founded in 2000. The family also operates The Fork, a culinary education center. Their flagship, award-winning cheese, the raw milk Point Reyes Original Blue was the only blue cheese produced in California when it was introduced.
Capricious is an aged goat's milk cheese made by the Achadinha Cheese Company in Petaluma, California. It won "Best in Show" at the 2002 American Cheese Society awards.
Sheana Davis is an American cheesemaker, chef, and culinary educator. She is the owner of the Epicurean Connection, in Sonoma, California, and is the creator of Delice de la Vallee cheese, along with other fresh cheeses. Davis is also the author of Buttermonger.
