March is the month for the 11th Annual California Artisan Cheese Festival, taking place Thursday 24th through Sunday 26th. Each year, hundreds of cheese lovers from around the world converge on the riverfront city of Petaluma for this terrific event.
If you're not in the cheese biz in any way and have yet to figure out the logistics of attending one or more events during this three day extravaganza, here's a handy outline of what's going on this year and how to get tickets.
The popular, premier U.S. cheese event just announced the participants in its two finale events: the Sunday Bubbles & Brunch and Artisan Cheese Tasting & Marketplace.
Charlie and Michael Kalish, aka the Cheese Twins, will demonstrate their cheese knowledge and cooking expertise with decadent, cheese-centric dishes at the four-course brunch event featuring Gloria Ferrer sparkling wine. The brunch includes a cooking demonstration by the Cheese Twins in the morning, followed by the afternoon grand finale that is the Artisan Cheese Tasting & Marketplace.
Charlie and Michael Kalish are two cheese industry professionals who also happen to be twin brothers and recent television stars! After winning Season 7 of “The Great Food Truck Race” on The Food Network, the brothers were given their own show, aptly called “Big Cheese” which is now airing on The Food Network.
For Sunday's Bubbles & Brunch at the California Artisan Cheese Festival, the Cheese Twins will be dishing up their cheesy favorites paired with Gloria Ferrer sparkling wine, such as Bellwether Farms Ricotta Stuffed French Toast with Strawberry Coulis and Chocolate Cheese Truffles with Nicasio Valley Foggy Morning.
Throughout the meal, the Kalish brothers will share stories about their escapades training as cheesemakers and cheese agers in Europe, details about their new television show, and what they have in store for the future. The twins will also be fielding questions and performing live cooking demonstrations while guests enjoy brunch, adding to the festive and interactive atmosphere.
Not only will guests be treated to sparkling wine and cheese-centric cooking demonstrations throughout this unique brunch, attendees to this sit-down, four-course feast will be given VIP access into the Artisan Cheese Tasting & Marketplace at 11 a.m., an hour before it opens to the public.
Bringing together more than 90 of California’s best artisan cheesemakers, food vendors, breweries and wineries, the walk-around Artisan Cheese Tasting & Marketplace is one of the weekend’s most popular events.
With two tents set up outside the Sheraton Sonoma County, guests comfortably navigate their way around this popular, 20,000-square-foot event, where they’re able to not only taste and purchase the offerings of each participant, but also interact with the vendors, artisans, cheesemakers, brewers and winemakers.
Throughout the day there are cooking and pairing demos featuring some of the Bay Area’s best chefs, including a grilled cheese cooking demonstration by the Cheese Twins at 12:30 pm, a butter-making demonstration by award-winning writer and chef Michele Anna Jordan at 1:45 pm and a Raclette demonstration by author and restaurant consultant Clark Wolf, and Chef Daniel Kedan of Backyard at 3:00 pm.
Cheesemakers showcasing their products at the Marketplace include:
Achadinha Cheese Company (Petaluma)
Beehive Cheese Company (Uintah, Utah)
Bellwether Farms (Petaluma)
Central Coast Creamery (Paso Robles)
Chevoo (Sonoma)
Cowgirl Creamery (Point Reyes Station)
Cypress Grove Chevre (Arcata)
Face Rock Creamery (Bandon, Oregon)
Ferndale Farmstead (Ferndale, Washington)
Fiscalini Cheese Co. (Modesto)
Laura Chenel’s Chevre (Sonoma)
Marin French Cheese Company (Petaluma)
Nicasio Valley Cheese Co. (Nicasio)
Nicolau Farms/Sparrow Lane (Modesto)
Orland Farmstead Creamery (Orland)
Pedrozo Dairy and Cheese Co. (Orland)
Pennyroyal Farm (Boonville)
Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co. (Point Reyes Station)
Redwood Hill Farm & Creamery (Sebastopol)
Shamrock Artisan Goat Cheese (Willits)
Two Rock Valley Goat Cheese (Petaluma)
Valley Ford Cheese Co. (Valley Ford)
Vintage Cheese (Traver)
Willapa Hills Farmstead & Artisan Cheese (Doty, Washington)
Breweries, cider-makers and wineries pouring their products at the Marketplace include:
Atelier by JCB (Yountville)
Barber Cellars (Petaluma)
Black Kite Cellars (Anderson Valley)
Drake’s Brewing Company (San Leandro)
Estate 1856 (Healdsburg)
Gordian Knot Winery (Healdsburg)
Hanna Winery and Vineyards (Healdsburg)
Heidrun Meadery (Point Reyes Station)
Hook & Ladder Winery (Santa Rosa)
J. Richards Winery (Cloverdale)
Jacuzzi Family Vineyards (Sonoma)
Joseph Jewell Wines (Forestville)
Kelley & Young Wines (Geyserville)
Kokomo Winery (Healdsburg)
Korbel Champagne Cellars (Guerneville)
Lagunitas Brewing Company (Petaluma)
MacPhail Family Wines (Sebastopol)
North Coast Brewing Company (Fort Bragg)
Paul Mathew Vineyards (Forestville)
Pennyroyal Farm Wines (Philo)
Pierce Ranch Vineyards (Monterey)
Red Branch Cider Company (Sunnyvale)
Seismic Brewing Company (Santa Rosa)
Sonoma Portworks (Petaluma)
St. Florian’s Brewery (Windsor)
Wandering Aengus Ciderworks (Salem, Oregon)
Wrangletown Cider Company (Arcata)
Artisan food purveyors and other vendors include:
Atelier Fine Foods (Yountville)
Black Pig Meat Company (Sebastopol)
California Artisan Cheese Guild (San Francisco)
California Endive Farms (Rio Vista)
Capa Bunga (Windsor)
CC Made (Berkeley)
Chico Honey Co. (Orland)
Clover Sonoma (Petaluma)
Cookie…take a bite! (Santa Rosa)
Copperfield’s Books (Petaluma)
Creminelli Fine Meats (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Culture Magazine (Massachusetts)
Dandelion Chocolate (San Francisco)
Diane’s Sweet Heat (Humboldt)
Dick Taylor Chocolate (Eureka)
Essentia Water (Bothell, Washington)
Farm Chocolate (Sebastopol)
Farm Fresh to You (Capay Valley)
Firebrand Artisan Bread (Oakland)
Friend in Cheeses Jam (Santa Cruz)
Golden State Pickle Works (Sonoma)
Hendley Hard Goods (Santa Rosa)
Hiroko’s Ceramics (Sonoma)
Interiors by Lynn (Rohnert Park)
Kelly’s Jelly (Lake Oswego, Oregon)
Lemon Bird Preserves (Wrightwood)
Marin Agricultural Land Trust (Point Reyes Station)
Mi Distinctive Tastes (Ukiah)
Napa Cakes Panforte (Napa)
Nugget Markets (Northern California)
Petaluma Visitor’s Program (Petaluma)
Future Farmers of America, Petaluma High School (Petaluma)
R&J Toffees (San Jose)
Redwood Empire Food Bank (Santa Rosa)
Revolution Bread (Petaluma)
Rustic Bakery (Petaluma)
SinfulSalt (San Francisco)
Sonoma County Agricultural Preserve & Open Space District (Santa Rosa)
Sonoma Land Trust (Santa Rosa)
TCHO Chocolate (Emeryville)
The Olive Press (Sonoma)
Valley Fig Growers (Fresno)
Volo Chocolate (Healdsburg)
The Bubbles & Brunch takes place from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Sunday, March 26th, inside the Festival’s host hotel, the Sheraton Sonoma County - Petaluma (745 Baywood Drive, Petaluma, CA 94954). Tickets are $115 and include VIP access into the Marketplace an hour before the public at 11 a.m.
The Marketplace, located in tents in the parking lot of the hotel, opens to the public at noon and ends at 4 p.m. Adult tickets to the Marketplace are still available and are $45. There are also $20 tickets for children twelve and under. Each adult ticket includes an insulated tote and a wine glass with the festival logo and unlimited samplings of cheese, beer, cider, wine and other artisan products.
Throughout the weekend, guests will have the opportunity to experience popular cheeses as well as new, limited-production and rare artisan cheeses while supporting California farmers and cheesemakers in their ongoing effort to advance sustainability. Tickets to most of the Festival’s events are still available, including a couple of the Artisan Producer Tours exploring Northern California farms from Marin County to Sacramento; many of Saturday’s educational seminars; Saturday night’s Cheese & Cocktails Celebration; and both Wine and Dine with the Cheesemaker Dinners. Tickets for all events can be purchased at www.artisancheesefestival.com.
If you like, follow along with the Artisan Cheese Festival on Facebook and on Twitter. All events are priced separately and the Sheraton Sonoma County – Petaluma is offering special discounted rates on rooms for festival-goers.
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