I love food and I love to eat healthy, but there is one thing that I cannot ever take out of my diet, CHEESE. It’s the best food in the entire world, in my opinion. In all my years of being a foodie, I have not found a cheese I did not like. I swoon over classic sharp cheddar, Jarlsberg Swiss, smoked Gouda, dry aged Gouda, and triple cream Bries. I have been known to sit down with a chunk of Swiss and sliced granny smith apples and just snack until… well the evidence is gone. It can happen so fast! My love affair with this food group is fun and something I won’t give up, that’s why I am so thrilled about the California Artisan Cheese Festival coming up on March.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weekend of March 18-20th the Sheraton Petaluma will host the 10th annual artisan cheese festival and a series of educational and fun seminars, tours, tastings, and events followed by a grand celebration on Saturday night. Local foodies, entrepreneurs, vintners, craft brewers, chefs, and fromagiers from across the country will get together to highlight cheese.

Learn how to eat it, what to look for in pairing cheese with wine, cider, or beer, how it’s made, and how to properly serve it. Enjoy educational tours at local farms for a more in-depth experience. Watch a little friendly competition to create “the best bite” on Friday night sounds fun and exciting: chefs are provided with a wheel, bowl, or block of cheese and are asked to create their best bite. Meet and chat with the cheese-makers, pick their brains, and learn the story and the process along with all of the blood, sweat, and tears that really go into producing cheese.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday night from 6-9pm the California Cheesin’ celebration takes place. Chefs from all over are given artisan cheeses to incorporate into a mind-blowing appetizer for gusts to sample throughout the evening. Cast your vote for the very best, the winner will be announced during the event. Tickets are only $75 per person for this delicious event. Wine, craft beer, and cider will be provided to pair with the appetizers.

Here are the cheese-makers and producers that you can expect to see at the events:

Achadihna Cheese Company
Beehive Cheese Company
Bellwether Farms
Central Coast Creamery
Chevoo
Cowgirl Creamery
Cypress Grove Chevre
Dairy Goddess
Fiscalini Farmstead Cheese Company
Laura Chenel’s Chèvre
Marin French Cheese Company
Nicasio Valley Cheese Company
Orland Farmstead Creamery
Pedrozo Dairy and Cheese
Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company
Pug’s Leap
Sierra Nevada Cheese Company
Two Rock Valley Goat Cheese Company
Valley Ford Cheese Company
Weirauch Farm
Willapa Hills Cheese

All of the weekends events are listed here, sign up now in order to reserve your seat, these events sell out!

The California Artisan Cheese Festival supports the artisan the cheese-making community directly by contributing 10% of ticket proceeds to nonprofit organizations that work to protect the lands needed by the artisan cheese-makers for their cows, sheep, and goats and train the next generation of milk producers and cheese-makers. The event also donates money to support these local non-profits: Redwood Empire Food Bank, Petaluma Future Farmers of America, Sonoma Land Trust, California Artisan Cheese Guild, and Marin Agricultural Land Trust.

I will be pouring Trione wines at the Saturday evening celebration, and Tim {my hubby} will be there serving something fantastic and creative with his chef de cuisine, Patrick of Peloton Culinary & Catering. Come by our tables and taste our pairings. I’ll be photographing the grub during the event too, so follow along with me on Instagram and Twitter: @Moxie_Lady.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buy your tickets to the events here. 

Hope to see you there!

Cheers to good food, cheese, and craft!

-Moxie