2016 Washington Artisan Cheesemakers Festival & Seminar

Washington Artisan Cheesemakers Festival (1:00-5:00pm)

Washington Artisan Cheesemakers Festival showcases a wide array of artisan and farmstead cheeses made in Washington. The festival exclusively features local cheesemakers and celebrates the terroir of Washington State. All the cheeses available at the festival are made with milk from animals that grazes on local pasturelands and made by artisans who call Washington home. We invite you to meet the cheesemakers, learn about their products and philosophy, and sample some of the finest cheeses made in Washington. In addition to over 20 cheesemakers the festival will also feature artisan foods and beverages from local producers to pair with the cheeses.

Admission includes all cheese and food samples and 3 drink tickets.  Beer tastes are one drink ticket each, wine tastes are two drink tickets each.

21+ only. Tickets are non-refundable. Prices include all applicable taxes. 

www.washingtonartisancheese.com 

Cheese Seminar: Old World Meets New World - Washington's New Traditions in Cheesemaking (2:00-3:30pm)

Cheesemaking is a century's old tradition for many geographic regions and Washington State provides an amazing landscape to produce some of the best.  In this seminar we will taste traditional European cheeses right beside those produced in Washington. What are the factors that affect the differences in Appearance? Taste? Texture?  Terroir – the taste of place?

For an added understanding of how we utilize "mobile" cheese operations somewhat similar to our European partners, we will have a delicious tour of a mobile cheese truck utilized by the Peterson Cheese Company.  Garrett Abel, Cheese Specialist, will be on hand to provide a tour of the truck during the seminar.  Don’t miss the chance of experiencing how this door-to-door service provides an exceptional connection for the cheese to be sampled with the customer. 

$40 per person or $35 when purchased with a festival ticket. Ticket price includes cheese samples plus alcoholic beverage samples.

Seminar is scheduled for 2:00-3:30pm and the presentation will take approximately 60-75 minutes plus Q & A’s to follow.

21+ only. Tickets are non-refundable. Prices include all applicable taxes. 

www.washingtonartisancheese.com 

Presenter Bios:

Julia Powers

Julia Powers is a passionate cheese lover.  Her background is speckled with opportunity that has ultimately given her this cheesy lot in life.  An Air Force brat that traveled with her family to domestic and international destinations, and then her own travels during and after her college years, provided a wonderful framework to seed the passion for cheese.  She is a member of the American Cheese Society with CCP (Certified Cheese Professional) credentials and serves as a member of the ACS Judging & Competition Committee.  Moreover, her education includes courses at Academie Opus Caseus @ Maison Mons in France and she is a member of Slow Foods USA and the Oregon Cheese Guild. She is a member and serves on the Board of Directors of the Washington State Cheesemakers Association.  Currently she continues to fuel her passion working for Peterson Cheese Company – a national distributor focusing on specialty foods and the import/export business.  For the past couple of years, she worked closely with a national specialty food broker – McKenna Marketing, and, before that, she was the cheese shop manager at Mt. Townsend Creamery in Pike Place and mongered at Metropolitan Market.

Garrett Abel

Garrett Abel is Specialty Truck Sales Representative for Peterson Cheese Company. His enthusiasm for artisanal foods and incredible working knowledge of Peterson’s specialty cheese and charcuterie catalogues make Garrett a great resource for information about the many unique and beautiful cheeses and meats that Peterson sources from around the world. He works in tandem with Peterson’s sourcing team, and specialty producers and vendors, to learn about how each product is produced and aged, which special characteristics and value are offered by each unique cheese and meat, and the best methods for storage and preparation in a retail or restaurant environment.

Garrett in one word: culinarian. He joined the Peterson team in 2015 and brings with him a long history in the Seattle restaurant community. He is a Northwest native and comes from DeLaurenti Specialty Food and Wine where he served as Chef for many years.