18 August 20, 2010C H E E S E R E P O R T E R

Sonoma County’s Valley Ford CheeseCompany Earns Followers With Estero Gold Valley Ford, CA—SonomaCounty’s latest farmstead cheeseoperation is working overtime to sat-isfy demand for its Estero Gold arti-san cheese, an American originalsimilar in style to Montasio.

Just over a year old, The ValleyFord Cheese Company is a farmsteadoperation united with MountainView Jerseys – a 640-acre dairy farmin western Sonoma county, continu-ously operated by the same familysince 1918. The farm currently milksabout 450 Jersey cows.

Valley Ford Cheese Company wasfirst conceived in 2008. The companywanted to try a style of cheesemakingthat would hearken back to the stan-dards of Ticino, the famous dairy can-ton on the Swiss-Italian border wherethe family lineage dates back.

Our intention was to produce anaged artisan cheese that wouldenhance the qualities of local pro-duce, wine, breads and meats,according to Karen Bianchi-Moreda,owner and head cheese maker at Val-ley Ford.

“I had this idea, and eventually Ihad a little cheese kit arrive in themail,” she said. “After that, it wasfull-steam ahead. I read every book Icould get my hands on and took aclass at Cal Poly.”

After the cheese recipe was naileddown, the family renovated an exist-ing structure on the dairy. Since theinitial restoration, Valley Ford hascompleted two expansion projects.

“We managed to maintain theintegrity of the building, and it sitsright in the middle of our dairy. Ihave a beautiful view,” Bianchi-Moreda said. “Would it be best forme to put in a new facility? I won’tfor all these reasons. I’ll just have toadd on as needed.”

Earning the necessary licenses andpassing inspections took about sevenmonths – working constantly.

The dairy also earned CertifiedHumane status – a process thatincluded a 15-page application, visitsfrom veterinarians, and inspectors that“go through everything with a fine-tooth comb,” Bianchi-Moreda said.

Mountain View passed inspectionon its first try, and earned a secondcertification for the farmstead cheeseoperation.

“Right now, there’s only two of usin the area that are certified,”Bianchi-Moreda said.

During the start-up phase, Bianchi-Moreda worked with representativesfrom the Sonoma County FarmBureau, Dairy Quality Assurance Pro-gram, the Natural Resource Conser-vation Service, Sonoma CountyAgricultural Preservation, and theCalifornia Milk Advisory Board.

I also visited Petaluma’s Bell-wether Farms for advice. Bellwether’sCarmondy cheese is made withMountain View’s Jersey milk,Bianchi-Moreda added.

“They were gracious enough toallow me to ask questions,” she said.“They knew I would never make acheese anything like what they’redoing.”

Estero Gold, Valley Ford’s premierproduct, is an Italian farmsteadcheese made from Jersey milk in thestyle of an Asiago and reminiscent ofa Montasio – two of the famouscheeses from Swiss-Italian dairycountry.

The young cheese, at about fourmonths old, is very pliable, withgrassy, fruity overtones. As it contin-ues to age, the flavor deepens,becoming complex and nutty,according to Bianchi-Moreda.

“I took Estero Gold to ACS lastyear and scored a 94 on my first try,”she said.

Valley Ford Cheese also makes aFontina, which Bianchi-Moredaentered on a whim to the 2010 Cal-ifornia State Fair CommercialCheese Competition and earned aGold Medal.

Fontina is made in very limitedproduction – only about 90 to 180gallons per week.

“The Estero Gold is my baby; it’smy recipe,” Bianchi-Moreda said.“The Fontina is new and I will startproducing more, but I’m still prettysmall, producing between 500 and600 gallons a week total.”

Bianchi-Moreda first took herEstero Gold to the nearby Valley FordMarket. Four retailers later, the cheesestarted catching on and Bianchi-Moreda had to start strategically set-ting aside product to fill orders.

“The ones that stuck with me getpriority,” she said.

Valley Ford Cheese has employedTomales Bay Foods as its distributor,and has accumulated about 46 of itsown clients the company takes careof – restaurants, wineries and bothlarge and small Sonoma county spe-cialty markets.

“What’s really fun is pairing upwith the wineries and some of therestaurants for cheese and beer pair-ings, which are really popular now,”Bianchi-Moreda said. “I’m exclu-sively in some brewery houses wherethey’re only pairing beer with mycheese,” she said.

While Bianchi-Moreda is justifi-ably thrilled about her company’ssuccess in such a short amount oftime, she also wants the business togrow within reason.

“I will up production soon, proba-bly about 200 more gallons a week,”she said. “I’m not going to go crazyover it because I still want to havecontrol.”

Eventually, I’d like to have a six-month and a 10-month Estero Gold,along with the company’s Highway 1Fontina and a third cheese, yet to bedetermined.

“Then I’ll pull back and focus onthose three,” Bianchi-Moreda said.

Cheesemaking goes on six days aweek. A new vat was just installed,and plans are in place to hire onmore staff.

“The Estero Gold ismy baby; it’s my

recipe.”Karen Bianchi-Moreda,Valley Ford Cheese

Fortunately, Bianchi-Moreda’s sonJoe Moreda is slated to graduate fromCal Poly in December, and her otherson Jim Moreda is also enrolled atCal Poly with an animal husbandrymajor.

In the relatively short time ValleyFord Cheese has been in business,the biggest hurdle has been makingenough cheese to satisfy demand.

“When I started, it was 20 gallonsa couple times a week. Then it wentfrom 40 gallons to 75 gallons to 90gallons a day,” she said. “Today’s a180-gallon day.”

Estero Gold is leaving the farm atfive months, and Bianchi-Moreda ishoping to eventually offer a 10-month variety.

“It’s growing, but I’m trying topace myself so I’ll have enough stor-age and enough help,” she said.

Ideally, I’d like to incorporate mykids back into the business, and beable to survive and see the marketgrow in a sustainable way, Bianchi-Moreda said.

For details, call Karen Bianchi-Moreda at (707) 293-5636 or visitwww.valleyfordcheeseco.com. rr

Karen Bianchi-Moreda, owner and head cheese maker at Valley Ford Cheese Company, createdEstero Gold artisan cheese in the style of an Asiago and reminiscent of Montasio.

E v a l u a t i n g t h e Quality,Consistency,

and End-Usage of Your Cheese Products

E v a l u a t i n g t h e Quality,Consistency,

and End-Usage of Your Cheese Products

• Inventory Financing • Procurement

• Spot Sales • Two Licensed Graders• Spot Sales • Two Licensed Graders

With two licensed Wisconsin cheese graders on staff, Oshkosh Cheese Sales uniquely

offers a wide range of services. Whether it is determining flavor profiles or

validating sell dates, the team at Oshkosh Cheese Sales works with

you to craft the best piece ofcheese and maximize its value.

Oshkosh Cheese Sales1-800-458-0146

(920) 231-0610 • Fax (920) 231-9441www.oshkoshcheese.com • info@oshkoshcheese.com

• Product Evaluation & Sampling

For more information, circle # 15 on the Reader Response Card on p. 22