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Below are highlights from California’s Artisan Cheese Festival 2008 Schedule of Events.
The intimate setting of our seminars allows participants maximum access to the cheesemakers, experts and presenters, enables lively discussions and other events and generous cheese and beverage pairings. With the limited capacities, many of the events sold out before festival weekend, including the popular Saturday Night Artisan Gala Dinner.
We hope you’ll join us in 2009. Sign up here for updates. The 2009 Schedule of Events will be posted in Fall 2008. We recommend early ticket purchases to avoid missing out on all of the fun.
If you missed the 2007 and 2008 festivals, you can glean the overall flavor of this tasty event by perusing the schedule below. We’re planning our 2009 program and welcome your ideas. Please contact info@artisancheesefestival.com if you are a cheese expert and would like to submit a seminar proposal.
California’s Artisan Cheese Festival is hosted by the Sheraton Sonoma County - Petaluma hotel,
located at 745 Baywood Drive in Petaluma, California, 94954, 707-283-2888.
Friday, March 7, 2008 |
6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
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Meet the Artisans: Welcome Reception & Tasting
An informal reception to give festival guests a chance to meet and talk with cheesemakers, experts and chefs. Enjoy a bounty of artisan cheeses and pairings, wine and more, sponsored by the California Artisan Cheese Guild. Tickets: $35
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| 7:30 p.m. |
Petaluma and Sonoma Cheese Dine-Around Dinners
Petaluma chefs and restaurants celebrate our festival weekend with specially prepared menus spotlighting cheeses and cheesemakers. Continuous free shuttle service from the Sheraton Hotel to stops in downtown Petaluma (7:30 – 10:00 pm) is provided by Pure Luxury Limousine Service. Space is limited and dinner reservations are required. Contact the restaurants directly for reservations and details.
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Saturday, March 8
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| 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. |
Festival Tent Activties
Cheese Café:Doralice Handal of the Cheese Shop Healdsburg has designed fabulous plated cheese assortments and accompaniments, with choice of beverage. One plate is included with your ticket.
Book and Gift Store by Copperfield’s Books and The Fig Pantry. Our festival authors will be on hand to sign their books. You’ll also find a tempting assortment of cheese accoutrements to buy and take home with you.
Cheesemaking Demos: 10:30 – 11:30 and 2:15 – 3:15
Chef Demos:
John Toulze - The Girl and the Fig, Sonoma: 1:00 – 2:00
Lenny Rice and Brigid Callinan - authors of Fondue: 3:30 – 4:30
Ticket: $25
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10:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
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Field Trip
St. Anthony’s Farm/Clover Buttery and Keller Estates Winery
Depart the Sheraton at 10 a.m. for a private tour of St. Anthony’s Farm and Clover Buttery. Learn how the organic milk is cold separated, tumble-churned and hand packaged to produce Clover's new European style, organic butter on this idyllic farmstead. Then head to Keller Estate Winery for a guided tour of the vineyards, wine tasting and lunch. (Note: there are stairs to the loft tasting room and no elevator).
Limit 25. Cost $50. Lunch included.
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9:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m.
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SEMINAR DAY PROGRAM
Seminar Day Pass includes Farm to Fork General Session (9:00 - 10:00 a.m.) and choice of 3 additional seminar selections, all-day Festival Tent Activities and lunch and special festival tote bag.
Seminar Day Pass: $125
Check In and Registration: 8:00 — 8:45 a.m.
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9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
General Session |
Farm to Fork: The Artisan Food Chain in Our
Backyard
Hosted by festival beneficiaries Marin Agricultural Land Trust and Sonoma Land Trust
Begin your day of immersion in artisan cheese appreciation with a lively introduction to Marin and Sonoma protected agricultural lands and the dairy and farming families who bring the best of that land to our plate. Sample cheese and wine produced from panelists' land.
Featured speaker and moderator: Michael Krasny, host of KQED's award-winning Forum program
Ticket: Included with Seminar Day Pass
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SEMINAR SELECTIONS
Choose one seminar from each of three time periods for each Seminar Day Pass holder.
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| 10:15 - 11:30 a.m.
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The Language of Artisan Cheese
Learn how to taste and describe the cheese you love.
Presenter: Janet Fletcher, Award-winning author
Aging Gracefully
Taste the effects of time and careful aging of cheese in
a vertical tasting of specific varieties.
Presenter: Juliana Uruburu, The Pasta Shop, Oakland
Learning the Blues
Taste and compare the best and most famous blue cheeses paired with Port and beer.
Presenters: Jill Giacomini Basch and Lynn Giacomini Stray, Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company
Cheese Essentials
Learn to navigate a cheese counter anywhere in the world by recognizing the basic characteristics of Laura's Eight Basic Styles of Cheese, paired with Sonoma wines.
Presenter: Laura Werlin, Award-winning Author
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| 11:30 - 12:30 p.m. |
LUNCH BREAK
Lunch included for Seminar Day Pass holders
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| 12:45 - 1:45 p.m. |
Triple Crème Cheeses and Bubbles
Taste and find out why these seductive cheeses and
elegant sparkling wines make such good partners.
Presenter: Colette Hatch, Oliver's Market
Wine and Cheese Pairing from the Oxbow Market
Join our neighbors from the new Oxbow Public Market in Napa in a pairing of their favorites.
Presenter: Jeff Prather and Barbara Stein, Oxbow Cheese and Wine Merchants
Artisan Cheese - the Basics
How does artisan cheese differ from conventional cheese?
Sharpen your palate as you taste and compare familiar styles of cow, goat and sheep cheese.
Presenters: Debra Dickerson & Diana Solari, 3D Cheese
Raw Milk Cheese: Cheesemakers Tell All
Learn the inside scoop on why cheesemakers choose raw
or pasteurized milk to make certain cheese, and taste
examples of both styles.
Presenters: Clark Wolf, Food and restaurant consultant, Soyoung Scanlan, Andante Dairy and Liam Callahan, Bellwether Farms
In Our Backyard - California and Beyond
Join our two favorite cheese cowgirls to get acquainted with their favorite regional cheeses from artisan producers across the U.S.
Presenters: Sue Conley & Peggy Smith, Cowgirl Creamery
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| 2:15 - 3:30 p.m. |
An Expert's Guided Tour of Goat Cheese
Goat milk cheeses came on the scene in the U.S. twenty-five years ago. Taste the quality and variety from the pioneers and local artisans in our own backyard.
Presenters:Mary Keehn, Cypress Grove Chevre and Jennifer Bice, Redwood Hill Farm and Creamery.
Cheese from the Farm and Beer from the Brewer
Taste and discover what goes into making distinctive farmstead cheese and craft beer, from the ground up.
Presenter: Wil Edwards, Curd Culture, and Randy Gremps, Third Street Aleworks
How to Buy, Serve and Store Artisan Cheese
Expert cheese sellers provide tips from across the cheese counter, including ideas for holiday entertaining.
Presenter:
Ursula Schulz and Chutharat Sae-tong , The Cheese Board Collective
Artisan and Farmstead Cheese in Fine Dining
Learn to navigate the restaurant cheese cart from the experts.
Presenters: Nick Peyton, Cyrus Restaurant and
Raymond Hook, CA Artisan Cheese Guild and Cheese Works West.
The Search for Transcendent Pairings of Cheese and Wine
Join cheese expert Laura Werlin and Master Sommelier Tim Gaiser as they discover the best in cheese and wine pairing.
Presenter: Laura Werlin, Author, and Tim Gaiser, Court of Master Sommeliers
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6:30 - 10:00 p.m. |
ARTISAN GALA DINNER
A special dinner prepared by award-winning and cheese-loving chefs, creating an elegant five-course dinner including appetizer, seafood, game, meat and cheese dessert courses. Each course will feature artisan cheese and will be carefully paired with select boutique wines.
Joey Altman, chef and host of the Bay Café TV show, will serve as Master of Ceremonies.
Featured Chefs:
John Ash, award-winning author, educator and radio food show host
Elizabeth Falkner, Chef-owner of Citizen Cake and Orson in San Francisco,
award-winning pastry chef and author
Tyler Florence, Chef and Food Network celebrity.
Jesse Llapitan, Executive Chef, The Palace Hotel in San Francisco
Josh Silvers, Owner Chef, Syrah, Santa Rosa
Ticket: $160 per person
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Sunday, March 9
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| 11:00 - 4:00 p.m. |
ARTISAN CHEESE MARKETPLACE
A vibrant all-day marketplace featuring all of the participating cheese producers, artisan food purveyors,
vintners and brewers from our own backyard. Taste and purchase your favorite cheeses to take home.
-Also-
Festival Tent Activities
Cheese Café: Doralice Handal of the Cheese Shop Healdsburg has designed fabulous plated cheese assortments and accompaniments, with choice of beverage. One plate is included with your ticket.
Book and Gift Store by Copperfield’s Books and The Fig Pantry. Our festival authors will be on hand to sign their books. You’ll also find a tempting assortment of cheese accoutrements to buy and take home with you.
Cheesemaking Demos: 11:00 – 12:00 and 3:00 – 4:00
Chef Demos:
John Ash: 12:15 – 1:15
Nancy Oakes and Bruce Aidells, 1:30 – 2:45
Ticket: $40 Includes insulated cheese tote bag and festival wine glass.
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Monday, March 10
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FIELD TRIPS TO ARTISAN CHEESE PRODUCERS
Field Trip 1
Marin French Cheese Company and Traverna Dairy
9:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Limit 25. Cost $50. Lunch included.
Depart the Sheraton at 9:30 a.m. for a private, guided tour of historic Marin French Cheese Company. Suit up in whites and booties to watch and learn how they make internationally awarded Triple Crème Brie and other bloomy rind cheeses. Cheese tasting and lunch included. The coach will then take you on a private tour of John Traverna’s Jersey Dairy to observe the source of Marin French’s high quality milk used in their cheesemaking.
Field Trip 2
Point Reyes Farmstead, Bellwether Farms and Robledo Family Winery
8:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. Limit 12. Lunch included.
Depart the Sheraton at 8:00 a.m. for a 1-hour tour of Point Reyes Farmstead, overlooking Tomales Bay, to learn how they make Original Blue Cheese with milk form their herd of Holstein cows. Next stop is pastoral Bellwether Farms in Valley Ford to tour their sheep dairy and watch the Monday cheesemaking operation. Last stop is Robledo Family Winery for a private tour, wine tasting and box lunch with this respected and unique family winery
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