A quick and cheesy trip

I just wanted to jot down a few lines about my earlier trip to Sonoma, a visit to Vella Cheese Company. The family-favorite is the really sharp, two year aged and intense, Raw Milk Cheddar. I know we have brought several pounds to friends in Sweden through the years and it's always a "hit". I had visited Vella Cheese factory in the past, but I think I payed alot more attention this time around. I also picked up his soft, mild and creamy Toma.

I knew he carried Laura Chenel's Chevre, (Chevre means goat cheese to us normal people) I knew I had to try it after reading about her. It had a slight goat tangyness and carefully salty. I love it.

Ms Laura Chenel is a cheese maker who has popularized goat cheese in America. In 1979, she developed the American Chevre goat cheese. Hands-down the most commercially successful gourmet goat-cheese venture in the country.

In the Vella fridge display case, it was easy to spot Vellas famous Sonoma Dry Jack Cheese. We got to sample it, it was mild and dry, but I had my mind set on other cheeses at the moment. An 18 month aged, imported Grana Padano, (parmesan-like), for grating, had to be eaten first.

An honorable mention (picture was taken a few days later at Tomales Bay Foods) goes to a smelly, salty and tangy Blue cheese, from Point Reyes Cheese Company. This what I gather their specialty and they got this right. A so called farmstead cheese maker, with their own cows, sitting next door in Marin County.

Buon Gusto!