Earlier this month Pure Luxury blogged about the 9th annual California’s Artisan Cheese Festival. Today we’re following up to share the deliciousness that was found during the Artisan Cheese Tasting & Marketplace.
The entire weekend, from March 20 – 22, was filled with education, fun, and outstanding cheese pairings. But the Tasting & Marketplace on Sunday, March 22nd from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m was a cheese lover’s dream. Over 90 artisan producers of local cheese, wine, beer, and other specialty foods were gathered under the big tent at Sheraton Sonoma County – Petaluma. With plenty of opportunities to taste and sip, attendees were able to experience all of the flavors first hand then purchase some of their favorites. The band, The Dixie Giants, winner’s of the North Bay Bohemian’s “North Bay’s Best Jazz Band,” added to the celebratory vibe with their toe-tapping music.
The list of participating, exceptional cheese producers included:
– Family owned and operated, Bellwether Farms
– Award winning, Cowgirl Creamery
– Cypress Grove Chevre, making outstanding goat cheeses for 32 years
– Laura Chenel’s Chevre, handcrafted in Sonoma County
– Redwood Hill Farm & Creamery, a family owned and operated company using solar power to sustainably produce their products
A sampling of this years participating, spectacular breweries and wineries consisted of:
– Clif Family Winery, offered tastings of wine and specialty foods
– Lagunitas Brewing Company, provided sips of their Hop Stoopid and Little Sumpin Ales
– Ravenswood Winery, poured their exceptional Zinfandels
– Sonoma Valley Portworks, invited attendees to sample their delicious varieties of ports
– VML Winery, shared tastes of their exquisite Russian River Valley wines
Some of the other Marketplace participants were:
– Jake’s Castro Kitchen, producer of artisan jams, jellies, sauces, and chutneys
– McEvoy Ranch, offering olive oil, wine & more
– SinfulSalt, 100% natural sea salt flavors naturally created. Selections include sea salts combined with espresso, lemon, rosemary, truffle, habanero, maple, and lime.
– TCHO, source their own cacao beans directly from farmers
– Three Twins Ice Cream, organic ice cream
Chef Jake Blaine, owner of Jake’s Castro Kitchen
“Like” us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or subscribe to our blog for more reviews and news from Sonoma County and all of Northern California Wine Country.
