October is American Cheese Month and California’s dairy farmers are renaming the state “Cheese and Wine Country” in recognition of the award-winning cheesemaking heritage that grew alongside its wine industry and pairing the state’s most noteworthy specialties formally together in a new way.
While California is widely known for its winemaking roots, its history as a top cheesemaker is just as strong. The state’s rich cheese history started 250 years ago when Friar Junipero Serra introduced cheesemaking to the missions in 1769. Today, California is the nation’s number one producer of fluid milk, butter, ice cream and Hispanic-style cheeses and is the second largest producer of all cheese.
“Cheese and wine are a match made perfect in California,” said Jennifer Giambroni, Director of Communications, California Milk Advisory Board/Real California Milk. “Like California wines, Real California Milk cheeses are also made with pride by local producers and makers. Starting with the milk produced by our state’s family-run dairy farms, it is then made into more than 250 varieties and styles of delicious cheeses ideal for pairing with California wines.”
Find California cheeses and dairy products at Real California Milk or look for the Real California Milk seal, which means the products are made with 100% milk from California’s dairy farm families, on products at retailers throughout the U.S.
About Real California Milk/California Milk Advisory Board
The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), an instrumentality of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, is funded by the state’s dairy farm families and is one of the largest agricultural marketing boards in the United States. With a mission to increase demand for products made with Real California Milk, the CMAB is celebrating 50 years in 2019 promoting California’s sustainable dairy products in the state, across the U.S. and around the world through advertising, public relations, research, and retail and foodservice promotional programs.