Exploring the trails of Cheese: The Straus Siblings (Vivian & Michael) talk the California Cheese Trail

2024-03-25

Download

They grew up on a dairy farm in West Marin, where the fog rolls in and grassy hills meet the rugged beaches of the Pacific Ocean, and now they are the force behind the California Cheese Trail. Vivian and Michael Straus left Marin for Portland (Vivian) and an ashram in India (Michael) but then came back to help save the family ranch and raise the profile of the cheese trail.

Now the California Cheese Trail is a map and website of the 70-plus cheesemakers in California and how to visit them, take tours, buy their cheeses and learn about the culture of California cheese.

This rollicking interview includes discussions on how to milk a water buffalo (carefully, and you can send them into ecstasy by brushing them), how to turn milk into cheese and includes a tasting of various local cheeses and how to put together a good cheese board.

After we talk about how to cheddar a cheese, they take a turn answering YOUR Sonoma questions during "We Get Questions," and this week they answer:

We have nine couples coming to Sonoma later and wanted to get together a little welcome packet for them. What do you think we should include?

Are there any pretty mustard fields around?

While Pliny the Younger from Russian River Brewery is famous as a local beer, I heard the first modern microbrewery was actually in Sonoma. Is this true?

We are visiting from Northern Wisconsin and would like to find some California cheeses. Where would you recommend?

Start your journey on the cheese trail here: https://www.cheesetrail.org/

Get the Sonoma Plaza Wine Tasting pass here: https://www.sonomavalley.com/food-wine/sonoma-wine-tasting-pass/

It's Sonoma Valley's top podcast and you find it wherever you find fine podcasts, including

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sonoma-spiel/id1634467429

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4UuskGhmJ3EkWQk8DObR9b

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiSa7rAVobsI8O_3xp7hIDPKRO9nBuvNF

Comments (3)