Laura Chenel
Mid; sourced from a network of goat dairies rather than an owned herd (Chenel sold her own herd in 1981 to focus on cheesemaking).
Sonoma County, California (Clover Stornetta dairy facility, Carneros), USA
laurachenel.com ↗verification source ↗
Quality assessment
A genuine pioneer of American farmstead goat cheese with a real, independently-audited facility certification (LEED Gold, 2011). It no longer owns its own herd (sold 1981) and has been owned since 2006 by a French specialty-dairy group (Rians/Triballat), so the single-family story that would earn 'exemplary' elsewhere in this batch does not carry through to current ownership -- 'solid' reflects a real, well-documented operation without an owned/named source herd.
- Scale
- Mid; sourced from a network of goat dairies rather than an owned herd (Chenel sold her own herd in 1981 to focus on cheesemaking).
Products
goat cheese (chevre)
Practices
Founded 1979 by Laura Chenel, introducing French farmstead goat-cheesemaking technique to CaliforniaFirst LEED Gold-certified creamery in the US (2011)
Certifications
LEED Gold (facility certification)
Served at
Sources
What the quality assessment above is built on.
- sfgate.com ↗
2006 sale to Rians/Triballat family, 1981 herd sale
- laurachenel.com ↗
1979 founding, LEED Gold certification