NEW PRODUCT
TIE
POINT REYES FARMSTEAD CHEESE CO.
Point Reyes Bay Blue
BOB GIACOMINI AND HIS WIFE DEAN purchased their Marin County, Calif., dairy in 1959. By the
mid-1990s, the Giacominis had a herd of 500 cows on the farm that sits on 700 acres of rolling hills
overlooking Tomales Bay. In 1998, their four daughters put together a plan to create a cheese company
and in 2000, Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company was born.
The sisters searched for a cheesemaker until they found the perfect fit in Kuba Hemmerling, who
came on board in 2009. Two years later, Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co.'s Original Blue won the sofi
Award for Outstanding Cheese or Dairy Product. This year, the company's Toma won in the same category (see p. S13).
And their newest cheese, Bay Blue, took home the coveted sofi Award for Outstanding New Product 2013.
Bay Blue started out as Hemmerling's nod to Stilton, with its fudgy texture and gorgeous crusted rind. The initial
flavor is earthy with slight mushroom notes that turn sweet and mellow with a unique salted-caramel finish. Although
Bay Blue shares the same strain of Penicillium Roqueforti (blue mold) as Original Blue, pasteurization, different cultures
and enzymes and altered curing and aging processes have resulted in an entirely different (and addictive) blue cheese.
Co-owner Jill Giacomini Basch recommends Bay Blue as an after-dinner cheese, alongside toasted hazelnuts and dried
figs. She loves to pair Bay Blue with a craft beer such as Lagunitas Brewing Company's Cappuccino Stout or tawny
port such as Dow's 20-Year. Suggested retail price: $20/pound. Contact: Jill Giacomini Basch, Point Reyes Farmstead
Cheese Co.; 415.663.8880; jill@pointreyescheese.com; pointreyescheese.com.—D.M.
SEPTEMBER 2013
S5
