Nothing quite says Sonoma County grown like Cowgirl Creamery Cheese. Artisanal and organic creamy goodness, it pretty much exemplifies all the things we love about Sonoma County.
I first fell in love with this brand years ago at a fancy wine auction in Napa. Part of a multi-course meal, their Mt. Tam cheese was the cheese course star, served at perfect room temperature and crusted in crushed pistachios. I’d never tasted cheese so divine. From that day forward, my love affair with Cowgirl only grew. Our love affair low point: my 9 month pregnancy-can’t eat rind cheese horror. Our love affair high point: my first taste of Mt. Tam post-baby. Almost as good as that pistachio-crusted Mt. Tam I remember so well.
A few years ago, Cowgirl Creamery cheese moved their production facilities to little ‘ole Petaluma. I wanted to tour their creamery for years now, but was never able to find the time. So you can imagine my excitement when I found out that they were opening their doors to the public on the same night as Petaluma’s Wednesday night farmers market opening night. Add in the fact that they were partnering with their neighbor, Three Twins Organic Ice Cream – my new ice cream LOVE – and enough temptation already. There was no way I was missing out on free tours and free samples of my two moo-cow loves.
We packed up the little guy and hightailed it downtown before the market, following the trail of happy ice cream eating customers. The tour was lovely, as were all the Cowgirl Creamery gals and most especially, the cheese samples. There was a curds and whey demonstration, cheese aging examples (see collage below) and I even learned what the born on dates mean on their packages (best eaten 40-60 days after). At the end of the tour, Three Twins gave away samples of their delectable ice cream which little dude tried his hardest to confiscate from us.
If you’re not in the area, be sure to check out Cowgirl’s web page. You can order their cheese online anytime or perhaps join their Artisan cheese club. If you are local and find yourself in Petaluma or Point Reyes, be sure to book a reservation online for their “Milk to Cheese” tour. Delectable free samples included of course!
