Karen Bianchi-Moreda’s family-run Valley Ford Cheese and Creamery is an udder-to-table experience that’s uniquely Sonoma County. Last week, “Check, Please!” roving food reporter Cecilia Phillips got the scoop on the popular cheese factory and general store for the KQED program.
Meeting up with Bianchi-Moreda and her sons, Joe Jr. and Jim, at the dairy, Phillips tromped among the grass-fed cows that make Estero Gold, Valley Ford Cheese and Creamery’s flagship cheese (as well as others sold by the creamery).
Phillips also visited the creamery’s cheese shop where she tasted melty raclette-style Highway One cheese and some of the cafe’s fresh-baked pastries and sandwiches.
The family has been making cheese for over 100 years in Sonoma County. Bianchi-Moreda is a fourth-generation dairywoman who makes more than 8,000 wheels of cheese annually with her son Joe. Jr. Moreda’s son Jim manages the herd of more than 80 cows that wander the 640-acre ranch in Sonoma’s west county.
See the segment on Valley Ford Cheese and Creamery on “Check, Please!” in the gallery above.
Valley Ford Cheese and Creamery, 14390 Valley Ford Road, Valley Ford. 707-293-5636, valleyfordcheese.com
