We’re spending the next few weeks featuring a variety of cheeses from the Californian Central Coast in our tasting room! Our brand new cheese flight now features three cheeses from Central Coast Creamery and two cheeses from Stepladder Creamery. We decided to celebrate by taking a trip out to Stepladder Creamery in the highlands of Cambria to tour the facility and farms. Here’s a closer look at some of our adventures from the trip!
Founded in 1871 along San Simeon Creek in Cambria, California, Stepladder Ranch has been family-owned and operated for three family generations.The family has strived to make a living off the land as they raise goats, cows, and pigs, as well as grow Haas avocados and a variety of other rare and subtropical fruits. This is Tootsie, one of the farm’s 35 Lamancha goats.All the cheeses are aged on racks in this one small refrigerated room for as long as four months. Varieties range from a washed goat’s milk curd cheese to a Syrah-soaked Spanish-style cow’s milk cheese.Rioly Run is a washed-rind cow’s milk cheese bathed in local Saison beer from San Luis Obispo’s Libertine Brewery. The cheeses are soaked in this beer for as long as four days and the funkiness of the beer is detectable in this slightly musty yet sweet-smelling cheese.After soaking in the beer, Rioly Run is aged on the shelves and becomes pale yellow in color.Gouda cheeses are pressed into these plastic molds before aging for as long as four months.The Cambria Clothbound is a cow’s milk cheddar aged for four months. It has a crumbly yet creamy texture and the distinct tyrosine crystals that develop with age add a nice crunch.Ragged Point is a triple-cream cow’s milk soft-ripened cheese. Each wheel is handmade and weighs less than half a pound for individual enjoyment!We got to taste a beautiful and delicious platter of four of their selected cheeses, drizzled with homemade honey.Stepladder Ranch even has its own bees! Their honeycomb is absolutely delicious and makes a perfect addition to any cheese plate.This twilight hour at the farm is absolutely breathtaking. What a great adventure!
We’re featuring Stepladder Creamery’s Rioly Run on our cheese flight, paired with our 2013 Le Vigne Malbec, as well as their Cambria Clothbound, paired with our 2013 Le Vigne Coure Della Vigna. Stop by our tasting room to hear some more great stories from this excursion and to try these wonderful cheeses!
A huge thanks to head dairyman and cheesemaker, Jack Rudolph, for giving this exclusive tour and tasting! You can schedule your own tour or read more about their cheeses on their website, linked here.
Le Vigne: In Depth 