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Janet Fletcher

180 Stonecrest Dr
Napa, CA, 94558
(707) 265-0404
{ Janet Fletcher / Food Writer }

{ Janet Fletcher / Food Writer }

Janet Fletcher

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    • About Janet
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    • Planet Cheese Blog
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The Blue We Need

February 4, 2025 janet@janetfletcher.com

Most cheese counters I visit—even the best ones—have a big gap in goat blues. The options just aren’t there, domestic or imported. It’s not an easy style to make, according to the cheesemaker who just launched the one pictured here. Goat curd is dense and wants to mat. If it doesn’t remain open and airy, it’s hard for blue veins to grow. But the flavor of a well-made goat blue can be captivating—more tangy than buttery, sometimes closer to feta than to Stilton. I’ve fallen for several over the years—Persillé de Rambouillet from France, Andazul from Spain, Harbourne Blue from the U.K.—but then they vanish. Let’s hope this California newcomer finds an audience and sticks around.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Goat Tags goat cheese, blue cheese, California cheese, Shooting Star Creamery, Central Coast Creamery, Reggie Jones, Avery Jones, goat’s milk blue cheese
8 Comments

Lose One, Gain One

October 3, 2023 janet@janetfletcher.com

Losing a great American cheese is a bummer—especially a cheese that so many loved—but a new arrival can soften the blow. So while I’m still in mourning for Ewereka, a blue-ribbon sheep Cheddar that Central Coast Creamery has discontinued, I’m enthused about its just-released replacement. Unforeseen hurdles compelled the Paso Robles, California, creamery to ditch Ewereka, but just wait until you taste the newcomer (above). Cheesemaker Reggie Jones has the American palate and purse dialed in, and I’d bet a bundle that this value-priced newbie will fly out of cheese shops.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Cow Tags Central Coast Creamery, Ewereka, Faultline cheese, American sheep cheese, California cheese, Central Coast cheese
Comment

Tough Times on the Left Coast

July 27, 2021 janet@janetfletcher.com

Drought. Wildfires. Record-breaking heat. Not to mention a pandemic that’s upended the supply chain. For dairy farmers and cheesemakers on the West Coast, this is one tough summer. Triple-digit temperatures and lack of water are stressing pastures and dairy animals. If such conditions are the new normal in California and Oregon, is dairy farming even viable? David Gremmels of Oregon’s Rogue Creamery and Reggie Jones of Central Coast Creamery in California shared their thoughts on these trying times. I have edited their comments for brevity and clarity.

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In From: U.S. Tags Rogue Creamery, David Gremmels, Oregon cheese, Oregaon dairy farms, Central Coast, Central Coast Creamery, Reggie Jones, California dairy farms
4 Comments

Whiz-Kid Cheese

October 13, 2020 janet@janetfletcher.com
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Sixteen-year-old cheesemaker Avery Jones has another hit on her hands. Last year, the California teenager took a top award at the American Cheese Society competition for Aries , her first entry. Her latest debut, a bloomy-rind sheep cheese called Leo, looks destined for a bright future, too. As if these whiz-kid achievements weren’t enough to impress, Avery recently presented a check for $2,200—five percent of her sales—to AmpSurf, a nonprofit with personal meaning for her.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Sheep Tags Avery Jones, Shooting Star Creamery, Central Coast Creamery, sheep cheese, Reggie Jones, American Cheese Society, Aries cheese, Central Coast cheese
6 Comments

Cheese for the Win

June 11, 2020 janet@janetfletcher.com
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Everyone I talk to seems at loose ends right now. What’s the right thing to think, say, feel, do when your country is experiencing an emotional earthquake? Cheese seems trivial, perhaps, but to dairy farmers and cheesemakers it is not. It’s a livelihood. It’s the future for their land, their livestock, their families.

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In From: U.S. Tags Victory Cheese, World Central Kitchen, igourmet, Beehive Cheese, Jasper Hill Farm, FireFly Farm, Tulip Tree Creamery, Haystack Mountain Cheese, Valley Ford Cheese, Spring Brook Farm, Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese, Central Coast Creamery, Vella Cheese Company, Shepherd’s Way Farms, LaClare Family Farm, Shooting Star Creamery, Milton Creamery, Goat Lady Dairy, Sweet Grass Dairy, Capriole Goat Cheese, Meadow Creek Dairy, 5 Spoke Creamery, Cascadia Creamery, Marieke Gouda, Grafton Village, Face Rock Creamery, Pennyroyal Farm, Maytag Blue, Nicasio Valley Cheese
15 Comments

It’s a First

August 6, 2019 janet@janetfletcher.com
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Last weekend’s American Cheese Society competition produced only one Best of Show, of course, but multiple firsts. For the first time, a blue ribbon went to a 15-year-old, who won her category and then placed third overall. For the first time, the first- and second-place cheeses were made by the same person. (Amazing, no?) For the first time, two of the top three entries were private-label cheeses matured by a retailer. And I suspect it’s the first time in the competition’s long history that all three top winners are newcomers, with none more than three years old.

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In From: U.S. Tags American Cheese Society, Old Chatham Creamery, Wegman’s, Central Coast Creamery, Stockinghall, Cheddar, Professor’s Brie, Shooting Star Creamery, ACS
2 Comments

Us Versus Them

January 15, 2019 janet@janetfletcher.com
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Most of the time, I aim to create a balanced cheese board for guests. Something fresh with something aged. A creamy cheese and a firm one. A range of flavors from mild to strong. Cow, goat and sheep. But sometimes I take a page from the wine world. Wine people love comparative tastings. My first date with my winemaker husband was a dinner party and wine tasting, with Pinots from around the world tasted blind. (Nobody nailed them.) A cheese course featuring the same style from two or three different producers can be illuminating, or at least get a conversation going.

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Tags Jasper Hill, Moses Sleeper, Camembert, Herve Mons, Bleu Mont Cheddar, Face Rock Creamery, Westcombe Cheddar, Central Coast Creamery, Shepherd’s Way, Ossau-Iraty, cheese tasting, comparative tasting
8 Comments

Superstar Cheeses of 2018

December 18, 2018 janet@janetfletcher.com
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Every week, merchants restock their counters with the cheeses they think you want. And then You the People get to choose. Often, you’re predictable (you do love those triple-creams), but sometimes you surprise retailers with your willingness to embrace the new. I’ve been showcasing my discoveries all year in Planet Cheese so thought I would ask some leading merchants what you have liked best. From coast to coast, here are some of your favorites, the breakout stars of 2018. Great choices, People!

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In From: U.S., From: France, From: Italy, Milk: Cow, Milk: Sheep Tags Capriole, Carles, Roquefort, Beillevaire, Ossau-Iraty, Jasper Hill Farm, Cowgirl Creamery, cottage cheese, Salers, Beaufort, Redhead Creamery, Carles Roquefort, Prairie Breeze, Dream Weaver, Central Coast Creamery, Maison de la Truffe, Alp Blossom, Grazin Girl
2 Comments

Ewereka! You Found It.

August 21, 2018 janet@janetfletcher.com
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I’ve lived in California for 40-plus years and had no idea that “Eureka!” was the state motto. Apparently, that’s what you say when you strike gold. Spelled creatively, it’s also the name of a terrific new cheese from California’s Central Coast Creamery [www.centralcoastcreamery.com]. The Paso Robles cheesemaker struck gold with it last month, winning a blue ribbon for Ewereka, a sheep’s-milk wheel, in the American Cheese Society’s annual competition. 

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In From: U.S., Milk: Sheep Tags California cheese, Central Coast, Central Coast Creamery, American Cheese Society
4 Comments

California Dreaming

February 20, 2018 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 30 _DSC3419.jpg

I’ve been trying to figure out how Central Coast Creamery [www.centralcoastcreamery.com] has come so far so fast. The five-year-old California producer has already earned heaps of ribbons in competition, and I see its cheeses everywhere. Last summer, cheesemaker-owner Reggie Jones claimed three more blue ribbons at the American Cheese Society [www.cheesesociety.org] judging, including one for Dream Weaver (above). That’s a brag-worthy feat for any creamery, much less a newcomer. How has Jones engineered his success? Are there lessons here for others…in any business?

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In From: U.S., Milk: Goat Tags Central Coast Creamery, Central Coast, Paso Robles, washed rind cheese, Reggie Jones, American Cheese Society, California cheese
4 Comments
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Welcome to my world: a fragrant, fascinating universe devoted to great cheese. In this and future Planet Cheese posts, you’ll find profiles of the world’s best cheeses plus insights into everything cheese: shops, recipes, interviews, pairing discoveries, classes, videos, travel. If you haven’t already done so, sign up here - it’s complimentary - and join me in learning something new about cheese every week.


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     Photographs: Douglas Fletcher, Ed Anderson, Megan Clouse, Faith Echtermeyer, Eva Kolenko,
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