Hello, my friends! This week, I am sharing with you a sponsored blog post brought to you by Cheese Journeys.
Have you ever dreamed of visiting beautiful global locations steeped in history, dining with local rockstar cheesemakers and food producers, exploring terroir through farm visits and fine meals, and staying in luxurious accommodations while food and hospitality professionals pamper you practically every step of the way? Well, if you have, you’re in luck because Cheese Journeys, founded by longtime food professional Anna Juhl, is there to provide fine food enthusiasts with exactly that experience.
I spoke with my longtime cheese friend and Cheese Journeys co-host, Chuck Kellner, about the Cheese Journeys’ travel experience, and the upcoming “Cheddar Odyssey” to England, which he is guiding with longtime, UK-based cheese professional Chris George. I don’t tend to do a lot of guided travel myself, but if Chuck likes something, it may be worth making an exception. :)
When I caught up with Chuck, he was wearing his Miss Cheesemonger t-shirt, and was bursting with the things planned for the England trip. “We’re going to have a whole roasted hog,” he smiled. And that’s just the beginning. Cheese Journeyers—actually referred to as “enthusiasts” by Anna— will be staying part of the time at North Cadbury Court, an historic country house with a ballroom, dining hall, disco area, tennis courts, indoor swimming pool, located on 1,500 acres. The property, owned by the Montgomery family (yes, of Montgomery’s Cheddar!!), has hosted numerous celebrity events, and overlooks the fort where King Arthur’s court is said to be. If that isn’t enough, the North Cadbury Court element of the journey will also be open to locals, since it is almost impossible for them to experience the splendor of this estate. Dear reader, if you have ever harbored Downton Abbey dreams, this is your chance to live them!
Chuck shared that while North Cadbury Court is to serve as home base for part of the journey, the itinerary is packed with visits to London, Bath, Quicke’s Cheddar, Westcombe Cheddar, a painting session with celebrated cheese artist Mike Geno, wine, cider, gin, beer producers and more. Cheese Journeys tours travel with a private chef, so when enthusiasts are not dining at the finest local restaurants, they will still be treated to an exquisite, mouthwatering meal.
Anna’s goal is to create an unforgettable food and travel experience that her food professionals and enthusiasts cannot find anywhere else. Thanks to Anna’s longtime work in the fine food realm, she has cultivated strong, trusting relationships with people I consider cheese rockstars—Jamie Montgomery of Montgomery’s Cheddar, Mary Quicke of Quicke’s Cheddar, celebrated cheese educator Chris George, Neal’s Yard Dairy, just to name some. The result is unrivaled access to these individuals and their world. It’s one thing to taste the cheeses of Mary Quicke at Neal’s Yard Dairy. It’s another thing entirely to meet Mary, visit her farm (which has been in her family for over 500 years), meet the cows in their pastures, and witness her acclaimed cheddar in the making. Anna wants you to be immersed in a place. This is not the kind of journey where you will be bussed from one site to the other, and have 10 minutes to snap photos. It’s interactive and inter-personal. You can ask all your burning cheese questions to the people who make your favorite cheeses. You’ll get to taste the best of the best local cuisine has to offer, and dig your fingers deep into the earth (literally, if you really feel so inclined).
To celebrate Cheese Journey’s England trip, I put together a little board that gives an inkling of the culinary wonders that await you, from the vegetal-noted Hafod cheddar, to the slightly creamy Westcombe cheddar with its toffee and apple notes, to the earthy, fudgy Shropshire blue. All of these cheeses are from Neal’s Yard Dairy, which our lucky Cheese Journeys enthusiasts will get to visit while in London! The handmade dishes were provided by the ever-talented Shiho Taka Ceramic from San Francisco, and the Cheese Companion‘s delectable pear ginger jam paired particularly well with the Shropshire blue!
Cheese Journeys offers journeys in several different locations, including Italy, France, Switzerland, Vermont, Philadelphia, Amsterdam, and soon—the west coast! Visit the Cheese Journeys website to learn more about their itineraries and pricing.
Thank you Anna and Chuck for this opportunity to learn more about Cheese Journeys and your absolutely dreamy itineraries!
This blog post was sponsored by Cheese Journeys. I received payment in exchange for this article. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
It’s my work to create great content for you. Do you love you see? Let’s work together!
PHOTOGRAPHY! Let me bring your food projects, business, and products to life. Let’s create something beautiful together! See my food photography portfolio. Or see my portrait portfolio for portrait work. Contact me to start brainstorming!
PARTNER! Let’s chat and see if we can make something together! Contact me!
BUY through my affiliate account links at The Cheese Grotto (where you can find a beautiful cheese humidor)
, Amazon.com (where you can get nearly anything under the sun) and the French Farm (where you can find delicious and beautiful French products for the kitchen, and get free shipping for orders over $75). Bookmark these links for later! You can purchase anything through them, not just what I recommend to you, and I will receive a small percentage of those sales at no extra cost to you! Everybody wins!
