This past weekend, from March 22–24, cheese enthusiasts gathered for the 18th Annual California Artisan Cheese Festival. With three full days of cheese tasting, education, and celebration of Sonoma County, this year's event brought a host of opportunities.
"We are so happy with how the festival has come together. Our farm tours and cheese crawl are sold out. We still have a few tickets left for the Saturday seminars and we hope that everyone gets their Sunday marketplace tickets sooner rather than later as we anticipate those selling out as well!” Sarah Simms, President of the California Artisan Cheese Guild and Co-Founder of Lady & Larder, stated before the event. “We will have over 120 cheeses to taste at the marketplace along with live music and our new beer garden plus expanded food offerings and Valley Ford's famous Raclette station will be returning this year. It’s going to be a wonderful celebration of community and cheese!"
The grand finale of the festival was the Artisan Cheese Tasting and Marketplace, which brought together over 100 artisan producers of the best California cheese, wine, beer, ciders, and specialty foods. There were 24 cheesemakers with over 120 handcrafted cheeses to sample and buy. New this year was the Beer Garden featuring craft brewers and cider makers including Seismic Brewing Company, Golden State Cider, and more. Expanded food offerings included Batter Bakery muffins and scones, Beecher’s Cheese soup, and Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co. Mac & Cheese.
According to a press release, the event also featured non-alcoholic beverage makers; meats and charcuterie; savory accompaniments including crackers, hot sauces, pickles, and condiments; and sweets ranging from chocolate, cookies, muffins and scones, confections, and dessert sauces.
The day before the marketplace, the event hosted seminars, pairing demos, and workshops at various locations around Santa Rosa and Petaluma. Seminars covered topics ranging from cheese and wine pairings to building a cheese and charcuterie board to tasting cheese with beer or aperitifs.
The Friday Farm & Producer Tours took attendees to various farms, creameries, and artisan producers, giving visitors a glimpse into the important role of the farmer and where cheese gets its start. Attendees also had the opportunity to attend the sold-out Saturday Cheese Crawl at the Barlow in Sebastopol.
We look forward to all of the year’s events that will bring our industry together.
