The Cheese Professor; June 4, 2024; Valery Larson
Between Marshall and Point Reyes Station, off Highway 1, a thin ribbon of road hugs verdant, rolling hillsides, winding its way to Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company. A visit reveals the cheese-tasting marketplace, an open, light-filled, airy, and beautiful space. Open to the public, on a recent visit there was a batch of new kittens playing hide and go seek outside near a pen with an adorable calf. A sweetly bucolic scene and setting for learning about and enjoying artisanal cheese.
POINT REYES FARMSTEAD CHEESES
Point Reyes Original Blue Cheese, the cheese that they are the most famous for, makes up 60% of the over 2 million pounds of cheese they make annually and is the cheese that started them on the artisanal path. It is a true farmstead cheese, meaning that it is made from the milk of the cows raised on the farm where they make the cheese; while their other cheeses use the milk from their own cows combined with the milk from other local farms, at their Petaluma creamery. Bay Blue is their other award-winning blue cheese, a Stilton style blue with sweet caramel notes has won just about every award possible, including first place at the 2024 World Competition.
Toma, a semi-hard, wonderfully tangy cheese, whose flavor lingers delightfully on the tongue. Quinta, a soft-ripened bloomy rind cheese, is smooth as silk; and hard to resist spreading on crackers, apples, or celery. Toma has several flavored versions including TomaRashi, TomaTruffle and TomaProvence, which with its blend of herbs de Provence perfectly complements an omelet for an outstanding and savory breakfast.
HISTORY OF PT. REYES FARMSTEAD
Currently a sister-owned and managed business, it has a kind of magic that speaks to the care and love they have for the dairy that their father, Bob Giacomini established with his wife Dean starting in 1959. In 2000 Jill and her sister Lynn returned to the farm, transitioning the business into an artisan cheese-making facility. Their sister Karen worked on the farm with Jill and Lynn until retiring and in 2009 sister Diana came on board. A transfer of ownership concluded in 2020, with certification as 100% women-owned by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council. It was an easy decision for the sisters to start this new chapter in their lives given their deep love and connection to the place they grew up and thanks to their parents who instilled in them a passion for hard work, ethical consciousness, and a deep love for the land.
With their collective energy, they have been able to guide the farm into a new era of sustainability and agritourism which includes The Fork, their culinary, educational, and entertainment center, giving their guests a greater understanding of what farm-to-table encompasses.
SUSTAINABILITY AT PT. REYES FARMSTEAD
What is just as exciting as the unarguably delicious cheeses they create is the environmentally conscious and sustainable way they manage their business. Every aspect of cheese making is considered when running the farm, from the methane digester (as of January 2023 they were one of only 290 dairies that had one), making up to 50% of the power used on the farm; to the care and comfort of their bovine charges. During COVID they installed robotic milking machines, which enhance the health and comfort of the cows; and next to their maternity ward for their pregnant ‘girls’ is a yard where they positioned a cow massager which the cows line up for (and I understand need coaxing to move away from). Read more about robots being used by dairies and see the Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company robot in action. They reuse and recycle their sanitation and wastewater so that it doesn’t leach into the groundwater and into Tomales Bay, allowing for constant water use for the various water needs on the farm.
The family's stewardship of the land, the care and consideration for the animals, the workers, their guests and patrons and as Jill states, the “pristine milk” that makes cheese of the best quality, are reasons to seek out Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company cheeses.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
VALERY LARSON
Valery Larson has had a life-long love affair with cheese; and the deepest respect and appreciation for all those amazing artisan cheese makers. One of her favorite events to write about is the California Artisan Cheese festival and especially the Sunday cheese tasting and marketplace. Having so many great cheese makers and their cheeses in one location is like a little piece of heaven. She lives and writes about food and gardening in a little cottage in the redwoods, with her husband and feral cat, Meesha.