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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

  • Home
  • About
    • About Janet
    • Media
    • Client List
    • Contact
  • Planet Cheese
    • Planet Cheese Blog
    • Planet Cheese Signup
    • Cheese Library
  • Store
    • All Items
    • World Cheese Tour
    • Books
  • Classes
    • World Cheese Tour Classes
    • Other Classes & Events
    • Custom Class/Event Request
    • Cheese O'Clock Video Archive
  • Recipes
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Autumn
    • Winter
    • Comfort

Playing Favorites

August 17, 2024 janet@janetfletcher.com

Recently I did a presentation on West Coast cheeses for a group of visiting chefs from Asia. After a guided tasting of the dozen cheeses I had selected, they had questions. The only one that stumped me was, “What’s your favorite West Coast creamery?” I didn’t have a ready answer but, in thinking about it afterward, one producer did keep coming to mind for its back story, its values and the consistent high quality of its cheeses. I could never name the favorite among the many worthy creameries on the Left Coast, but Cascadia Creamery is definitely on the short list.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Cow Tags Cascadia Creamery, West Coast cheeses, Washington cheeses, raw milk cheese, washed-rind cheese, Trout Lake
11 Comments

Newcomer at a Nice Price

July 9, 2024 janet@janetfletcher.com

A cheese shop owner told me recently that he now prices his inventory by the half-pound instead of by the pound. The sticker shock was just too much for some customers and hardly anybody buys a pound of cheese anyway. I get it. At least for me cheese is a deductible expense, but I’ve been watching the climbing prices with alarm. Good cheese should be an everyday pleasure, not a pain point. Which is why I was eager to devote a session in my World Cheese Tour series to products that over-deliver for the price. The class is sold out, but pictured above is one of the amazing values I discovered as I researched the best selections for the evening. I’ll share the entire class lineup in next week’s Planet Cheese post, but this highly aromatic little guy will be on the plate. What a bargain!

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In From: Italy, Milk: Goat Tags good value cheeses, bargain cheeses, Arnoldi, Capriolina, World Cheese Tour, goat cheese, washed-rind cheese, Italian cheese
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Hall of Fame Name

March 5, 2024 janet@janetfletcher.com

On my short list of favorite cheese names, I would surely include Ewe Calf to be Kidding (a three-milk blue cheese from Hook’s in Wisconsin); Triple Play Extra Innings (another ménage à trois from Hooks, with extended aging); Bleu 1924 (a good back story); Moser Screamer (because it’s worth shouting about); and Mary dans les Étoiles (a loving tribute to a departed colleague). Wordplay aside, they’re all superb cheeses. So is the wedge pictured above, which I might have purchased for its name alone, but a sample in the shop sealed the deal.

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In From: Belgium, Milk: Cow Tags washed-rind cheese, Funky Monk, Belgian cheese, Van Tricht
2 Comments

Better Than Ever

June 21, 2023 janet@janetfletcher.com

I recently led a small cheese and wine tasting for the winners of a charity auction lot. The cheeses were donated by the makers and maybe not what I would have chosen—they weren’t fancy-schmancy—but free is a nice price. So I wasn’t expecting any “wow” moments from this cheese plate but…wow.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Cow Tags Wagon Wheel, Cowgirl Creamery, washed-rind cheese, stinky cheese, California cheese
17 Comments

A Cheese Debut and a Retirement

September 14, 2021 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 186 _DSC4715.jpg

It’s still summer and I’ve just seen my first holiday decorations. I guess people are anxious to make up for all the gatherings that didn’t happen last year. If you’re already thinking about autumn cheese boards and how to entertain holiday guests, serve this rising star and prove you’re an early adopter. A little bit stinky (but not too much) and extra buttery, this California newcomer makes a tasty segue to autumn.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Cow Tags Marin French cheese, California cheese, triple cream cheese, triple crème cheese, Brevibacterium linens, washed-rind cheese, stinky cheese
14 Comments

Trio of Lovelies

September 15, 2020 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 135 _DSC2062.jpg

For all those who say they don’t like goat cheese, here are three to change their mind. I would bet on it. How can you not love these beauties? I get why people dislike those chalky, overly tart fresh chèvres that smell like a goat barn. I don’t like them either. But goat cheese can be silky, sweet, nutty and mellow, with an aroma like pale caramel. These three gems (one is mixed milk) are absolutely worth the hunt—each an original creation made by a single producer.

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In Milk: Goat, From: Spain, From: Italy Tags Spanish cheese, Italian cheese, goat cheese, washed-rind cheese
4 Comments

Slumping Beauty

May 10, 2016 janet@janetfletcher.com
Juvindale

New York’s Meadowood Farms specializes in sheep’s-milk cheese, which means the creamery is idle for several months each year. Sheep don’t produce milk year-round in any case, and Meadowood’s practice is to milk them only when they’re on pasture. In Cazenovia, just east of the Finger Lakes, that’s a lot of down time.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Cow Tags Meadowood Farms, Veronica Pedraza, New York cheese, washed-rind cheese
4 Comments

A Century in the Making

March 29, 2016 janet@janetfletcher.com
Nicasio-Valley-Cheese-Tomino

I’m always intrigued to learn how a cheese goes from idea to reality. This luscious newbie from West Marin can trace its roots back more than a century, to the day when 17-year-old Fredilino Lafranchi left his home in the Swiss canton of Ticino to try his luck in the U.S. He had $35 in his pocket

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In From: U.S., Milk: Cow Tags Nicasio Valley, West Marin, organic cheese, washed-rind cheese, bloomy-rind cheese
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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,
Victoria Pearson, Sara Remington and Meg Smith
Design: Jennifer Barry Design | Props: Tangerine Prop Shop | © 2024 Janet Fletcher, All Rights Reserved