The Story Behind Délice de la Vallée
Délice de la Vallée photo courtesy of The Epicurean Connection
Editor’s note: Have you ever wondered how an award-winning cheese comes to be? We asked Sheana Davis to tell us the story behind Délice de la Vallée, a triple creme cheese made from goat and cow’s milk that was awarded first place in 2010 at the American Cheese Society competition in the fresh unripened cheeses made from mixed milks category.
Sheana Davis is the cheesemaker, but making and selling it includes a couple of other people behind the scenes. As of this year, her daughter Karina Davis has joined the business and works to produce Délice de la Vallée at Belfiore, hosts cheesemaking classes, and is co-host of weekly Cheese Chats. Meanwhile Sheana’s husband Ben runs the wine program for classes, events and catering, and films weekly Cheese Chats and private classes.
You’ll meet Sheana, her husband and/or her daughter when you visit The Epicurean Connection at 19670 8th St. East, Sonoma CA. Current hours are Friday-Saturday 10 am - 4 pm and by appointment 707-235-9530. Classes are expected to resume October 2020.
For more information about the retail business, catering, classes and weekly virtual Cheese Chats, head to The Epicurean Connection.
Creation
Délice de la Vallée was created in our catering kitchen in 2002. Each week we would make a fresh batch of creme fraiche, fromage blanc and chevre to use in our catering menu. We would serve creme fraiche stuffed red potatoes, chevre with edible flowers on a honey crostini and fromage blanc crepes with seasonal tapenade. At the end of each Sunday, we would blend the remaining amounts of the creme fraiche, fromage blanc and chevre, to then use as an Alfredo sauce for our mac and cheese on the following week’s menu. This dish became wildly popular, so we then had to start making additional cheeses to accommodate the demand for the mac and cheese. We then were getting requests from our guests to purchase the blend of cheeses to take home and that is where Délice de la Vallée was born. Each week we would pack the cheese in 8, 16 and 32 ounce containers. We named the blend, Délice de la Vallée as in delicacy of the valley, an ode to Sonoma Valley.
Realizing the demand for the Délice de la Vallée, we sought a cheese plant to produce it ourselves. I started my quest for a cheese plant locally, inquiring at Vella Cheese, and was not able to make the cheese there as they only produced cow milk cheeses, then having inquired at Laura Chenel, and at that time, she only made goat milk cheeses. I had to expand my search a bit further and thankfully ended up with Lino Esposito at Belfiore Cheese Company and together we produced our first commercial batch of Délice de la Vallée.
Production
Prior to starting the commercial cheese production, I traveled around the county visiting fresh cheesemakers and learned how to produce fresh cheeses. I attended cheese classes in Vermont with New England Cheese Supply, made cheese with cheesemakers including Cynthia Majors at Vermont Shephard in Putney Vermont, and Dee Harley at Harley Farms in Pescadero, CA. I also worked with Sid Cook of Carr Valley Cheese in La Valle Wisconsin to create my signature cheese. Without the courtesy and expertise, these cheesemakers were willing to share, I am not sure I would have made the leap into commercial production.
Délice de la Vallée photo courtesy of The Epicurean Connection
Many cheesemakers were very helpful in assisting me to create my first commercially produced cheese which really reflects the community of cheesemakers across the country. To create my own flavor of cheese, I then worked with UC Davis to create our signature cultures and enzymes, having collected mold from a wine cave here in Sonoma and I then had my own culture for the cheese. Ig Vella was a great mentor to me, really pushing me forward to not only develop my own cheese, but he also was a very forward-thinking businessman, and he was very helpful in building my business plan. John Van Dyke a cheesemaker at Laura Chenel was essential in the creation of my cheese, as I really wanted a fresh cheese with a soft and velvet-like texture, almost like it was whipped and he guided me to the perfect one. We launched our cheese production in December for the holiday season to chefs and they loved it and we continuously sold out each week.
In June 2010, we entered our Délice de la Vallée into the American Cheese Society competition and won first place in the fresh cheese category and I was thrilled beyond belief. With the award came increased demand and we had the potential to grow nationally. At that point, I had to make real business decisions on how much we wanted to grow our cheese business. I met with a national chain about selling our cheese in retail packaging and once I learned of all the steps to sell, market, produce, distribute and maintain the national retail level of sales I decided to stay local and self distribute the cheeses to chefs, restaurants, and hotels in our region.
Distribution
Currently, we sell to 30-50 chefs in our Northern California region, with a small selection of mail order for chefs around the country. Délice de la Vallée is sold in 5 pound tubs and is featured in neighborhood restaurants and pizzerias to Michelin Star restaurants and local wineries. Each week we send out an email on quantity available and then we deliver on Thursdays each week. The Délice de la Vallée is only available for retail at our weekend cheese shop in Sonoma. Pre-pandemic, we hosted a weekly open house each Saturday, and now while sheltering in place, we are closed to retail.
Délice de la Vallée photo courtesy of The Epicurean Connection
Having produced Délice de la Vallée for 18 years, we have learned quite a bit. When our daughter was growing up, she would frequently get asked how her sister Délice was, and thankfully she found it humorous and she would correct them and educate them that Délice was a cheese! Making cheese has led to many friendships and I have given presentations on creating your own cheese and the financial side of sustaining a cheese in the marketplace for the Specialty Food Association and the American Cheese Society. One presentation, weaving waste into profit is still one of our most requested presentations, all built around Délice de la Vallée and zero waste in cheese production. Not only do we sell and use every ounce of our cheese, but we are also able to sell our whey to a local company producing power bars. Our packing is simple and environmentally friendly as we only pack 5-pound tubs.
In addition to Délice de la Vallée, we produce Creme de Fromage, a cream fromage blanc, Lucy, a goat milk brie and in the past two years have created two collaboration cheeses. Mycophillia, with Blackberry Farm in Tennessee, cheesemaker Chris Osborne, a bloomy rind sheep milk cheese, dusted with wild mushrooms from the Mayacamas Mountains, Sonoma and the Smokey Mountains, Tennessee, with cheesemaker Chris Osborne. Layla, with Briar Rose Creamery in Oregon, a Guernsey cow milk cheese, dusted with fennel pollen. Future collaboration cheeses are in creation, to be determined once we are able to travel again.