A Family Farm on Tomales Bay
Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company sits on 720 acres of pasture on the eastern shore of Tomales Bay in Marin County, California, about an hour north of San Francisco. The Giacomini family has worked the land as a dairy farm since 1959, when Bob Giacomini bought the property and built a Holstein herd around a pasture-based grazing model: cows kept on grass year-round in the mild coastal climate, rather than confined and fed silage in the industrial dairy model that came to dominate American milk production. For forty years the milk went to a co-op. In 2000, Bob's four daughters (Karen, Diana, Lynn, and Jill) convinced him to start turning the family's milk into their own cheese, and Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company was born. Their first cheese, Original Blue, was California's first small-batch blue and remains the most respected. Karen has since retired, and the three remaining sisters run the operation today.
The farmstead designation matters here in a specific way. "Farmstead" is a regulated term in American cheesemaking — it means the cheese is made on the same farm where the milk is produced, from that farm's herd, without buying in outside milk. Very few American cheesemakers qualify. Point Reyes' Holstein herd grazes within sight of the creamery, which sits at the edge of the water. The cows get milked twice a day, and the milk goes straight into cheese. You taste the closed loop in the finished cheese — the salt air off Tomales Bay, the coastal grass. A multi-dairy operation can't get there.
The Point Reyes Cheese Line
Original Blue is the flagship: a rindless, unpressed blue cheese made from raw Holstein milk, aged four to six months, with a milky sweetness and a mild-to-moderate blue tang that's less aggressive than European blues like Roquefort or Stilton. It works beautifully on burgers, salads (the classic Cobb calls for it), and cheese boards, and it melts smoothly into cream sauces and dips. Bay Blue is the sibling — a milder, rustic blue with a caramelized-butter sweetness and a hint of Camembert-like softness at the edges. It's inspired by British-style blues and pairs particularly well with dried fruit and honey. Both are also available in pre-cut wedge format for anyone who wants convenience over the cut-to-order option.
The other side of the range is the Toma family: alpine-style semi-hard cheeses that read closer to French tomme or Italian toma. Point Reyes Toma is a smooth, mild Alpine-style cheese with a creamy buttery finish and enough character to eat on its own or melt into grilled sandwiches and mac and cheese. TomaRashi is Toma with togarashi — Japanese seven-spice chile — folded into the curd, which gives it a warm, layered heat that works particularly well with a hoppy West Coast IPA or a spicy sake. Both Tomas are also available pre-cut. Between the blues and the Tomas, the range covers everything you'd reach for — board cheese, cooking cheese, melter.
Cooking, Pairing and Storage
Original Blue is the workhorse: crumble over salad (Cobb, wedge, pear-and-arugula), melt into cream sauces for pasta or steak, or serve in irregular broken pieces on a board with honey, walnuts, and a slice of pear. It pairs beautifully with Port, Sauternes, and California Zinfandel; on the beer side, a stout or a barleywine handles the salt. Bay Blue works the same way but at a softer register — its milder profile makes it a better pick for people who like blue cheese but don't want the salt-and-funk hit of Original. The Tomas melt smoothly and cleanly, and shine in grilled cheese sandwiches, quesadillas, and any dish where a mild alpine-style melter is welcome. TomaRashi shines in kimchi grilled cheese, in a spicy quesadilla, or shaved over ramen.
Store cut Point Reyes cheese wrapped in cheese paper or a breathable cheese storage bag, which lets the cheese exchange air without drying out. The blues keep two to three weeks refrigerated; the Tomas, three to four weeks. Original Blue keeps developing after you cut it — the blue veining spreads and intensifies over the first week, which some prefer and some like to head off by eating it fresh. Both the blues and the Tomas freeze fine for cooking, though the texture softens on thawing.
Also Worth Exploring
Point Reyes sits within the broader American farmstead cheese movement that developed in California and New England from the 1980s onward. For side-by-side comparison across American blue cheeses, the blue cheese collection includes Rogue Creamery's Oregon blues, Maytag Dairy's Iowa blues, and Point Reyes alongside European classics. For the full Californian farmstead cheese roster including Cypress Grove goat cheeses, the American cheese collection covers 100+ domestic producers. And for building a Point Reyes board — pear, honey, walnuts, and a glass of Port or Zinfandel — the honey and mustard cheese pairings collection and nuts and dried fruits collection cover the rest.
Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese: Frequently Asked Questions