Oprah Winfrey recently released her hotly-anticipated annual list of “Favorite Things.” Among them is a body butter from Petaluma’s McEvoy Ranch and a cheese from a Point Reyes company.
With over 100 items on her list, Oprah highlights several small businesses with items that make great gifts and stocking stuffers for the holiday season.
McEvoy Ranch Whipped Body Butter, $39
The family-owned McEvoy Ranch, located in rural south Petaluma, produces award-winning olive oils — and now its beauty products are in the national spotlight. Oprah called McEvoy Ranch’s Whipped Body Butter “a rich and luxurious moisturizer.”
The body butter is made with the ranch’s organic extra virgin olive oil — as well as rosehip fruit oil, hyaluronic acid and shea and cocoa butters — for a skin-nourishing, hydrating cream. Scents include citrus, lavender, unscented and an herbaceous verde. The whipped body butter is currently on sale for $39 on McEvoy Ranch’s website.
5935 Red Hill Road, Petaluma, 707-778-2307, mcevoyranch.com
Point Reyes Cheese & Thank You Gift Set, $95
Among Oprah’s favorite food gifts is a cheese gift basket from Marin-based Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co. The Cheese & Thank You gift set is filled with a selection of handcrafted cheeses to pair with crackers and a spread.
“Thanks to four artisanal cheeses — TomaRashi, Gouda, Bay Blue and a just-so-good Truffle Brie — sweet olive oil crackers and a sour cherry spread,” Oprah stated, “the lucky recipients of this gift box (created just for us) will use the enclosed cheese knife to dive right in.”
This is the second year in a row Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co. landed on Oprah’s coveted favorites list. Last year, Oprah featured the company’s Cheese Celebration Collection.
14700 Highway 1, Point Reyes Station, 800-591-6878, pointreyescheese.com
Past Oprah-approved local products
This isn’t the first time Sonoma County products fell into Oprah’s good graces. In 2016, she selected Guerneville’s Big Bottom Market biscuits among her favorites. The market changed its name to Piknik Town Market last year, following the departure of co-owner Michael Volpatt. New owner Margaret van der Veen confirmed the market still offers the famous biscuits.
In 2021, Santa Rosa-based Sonoma Lavender Co. made it on Oprah’s list for its lineup of scented stuffed animals. The heatable plushies contain a pouch of fragrant, soothing local lavender or eucalyptus.
In Napa Valley, Model Bakery’s English muffins made it on Oprah’s favorites list four times, in 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2021. The Napa County bakery opened a location in the East Bay in 2022.