Driven by their goal to make delicious hand-crafted cheese with sustainable and environmentally responsible methods, Bay Area chefs Sue Conley and Peggy Smith pulled up stakes in 1997 and left Berkeley for an old barn in the Wild West of northern California’s Marin County.  City slickers no more, the Cowgirl Creamery founders turned that old barn into a small manufactory for artisan cheese using organic milk from the neighboring Straus Family Dairy.

Cowgirl Creamery now has a larger cheesemaking facility in Petaluma, California, in addition to the barn-based operation; between the two facilities they produce a small but impressive collection of fresh and soft-aged cheeses, including the washed-rind Red Hawk, which won the Best-In-Show award in 2003 and Best-In-Show 2nd Place in 2009 American Cheese Society’s annual conference. The Cowgirls also distribute a huge selection of artisan cheeses from over 200 producers in the U.S. and Europe, and they have retail shops in Pt. Reyes Station (the other end of the barn!), San Francisco’s Ferry Plaza and Washington, D.C.’s Penn Quarter.
We think Cowgirl Creamery’s soft-aged cheeses make perfect gifts. At 10 ounces apiece they are an ideal size for a party cheese platter. The triple-crème Mt. Tam is universally loved for its creamy, delectable texture and buttery flavor, and Red Hawk offers an intoxicating multi-sensory experience for more adventurous. You need little more than a good loaf of walnut bread and a schmear of fig or preserves or a drizzle of honey to complete the plate. Cowgirl Creamery also offers both American regional and international cheese collections that the gourmand on your Christmas list would be thrilled to receive.