Yee-Haw! Cowgirl Offers Milk-to-Cheese Tours at Petaluma Creamery

Foodies rejoice! Starting next month, you won't have to trek to Pt. Reyes Station to see how Cowgirl Creamery tasty cheeses are made. That's because the wildly successful cheese company will offer tours of its Petaluma facility starting April 13. 

Owners Sue Conley and Peggy Smith opened Cowgirl Creamery in 1997 in an old barn. They purchased organic milk  from neighboring dairy, Straus Family Creamery, and before long, cheese-lovers everywhere were beating a path to their door. They opened their Petaluma production facility in 2007 in a warehouse at 419 First Street. 

While Conley and Smith are considered "cheese whizzes", their product is anything but. Cowgirl Creamery makes a small collection of award-winning artisan cheeses -- four, soft-aged and three fresh, totaling about 3,000 pounds per week.

However, their circle of cheesemaking friends has grown and they now distribute extraordinary artisan cheeses from over 60 of America's and Europe's most prized producers. You can find Cowgirl retail outlets in such chichi locations as the Ferry Plaza in San Francisco and in Washington D.C.

The Petaluma facility's one-hour tours will be offered Wednesdays at 11:30 a.m. and will run through October. Guests will get a history of the region's dairy industry, learn about how Cowgirl Creamery got started and watch a demonstration of curd making and cheesemaking while tasting along the way.

One of the most interesting tastings is Cowgirl’s heavenly triple cream Mt. Tam cheese at three different stages of production.

“It’s a rare opportunity for people to actually see how cheese is made and a chance to give people insight into one of the most spectacular things about this region we live in: our dairy industry and the burgeoning artisan cheese world,” says Vivien Strauss of Cowgirl.

The Creamery has been committed from the get-go to being environmentally responsible, being and supporting their cheesemaking friends in being sustainable land stewards.

“There is a large infrastructure that revolves around cheesemaking such as plumbers, electricians, construction workers, farmers, feed suppliers, etc.,” says Straus. “The tour gets people involved and caring about the local businesses which they can support by purchasing cheeses and other local dairy items.”

The tour costs $30 and is limited to 20 people and reservations are required. Each guest will leave with a sample bag of cheeses worth $20. Petaluma tours are not suitable for children due to their technical nature and high viewing windows. However, Cowgirl offers tours for kids at their Pt. Reyes Station facility.

Tour reservations (and pre-payment) are required and can be made online at www.cowgirlcreamery.com or by calling 866-433-7834.