I’m back from our first Northern Italy tour of spring and am still dreaming of the rolling vineyards around Alba and Asti, not to mention the beautiful wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano we saw ripening in the caves of Giorgio Cravero. My co-hosts Emilio Mignucci (Di Bruno Bros.) and Tenaya Darlington (Madame Fromage) returned home with suitcases full of Piedmontese hazelnuts and bottles of rare wine from Slow Food’s Wine Bank. What a delicious trip!
That brings me to a new set of co-hosts I’m thrilled to welcome on board: Marc Hernandez and David Robinson of Boston's legendary Formaggio Kitchen. Together, we’ll be offering two tours next year, France (June 2023) and England (October 2023).
Formaggio Kitchen Collaboration Tours
ENGLAND 2023
Cheese Buyer Marc Hernandez (above) will join me for our British Cheese Odyssey, based at the estate of Montgomery's Cheddar in beautiful Somerset. Marc has curated British cheeses for all four of Formaggio Kitchen’s locations and worked in London at Neal’s Yard Dairy. As Formaggio's staff trainer on hard ciders, he'll lead a special cider tasting in partnership with Chris George, a London cheesemonger turned craft cider merchant who has started his own company, Cork and Crown.
Note: we’ll also be offering a cider tasting with Chris George on our Fall 2022 England tour with co-hosts Fairfield Cheese Company. For any American cheese professionals who wish to join the tour, Neal's Yard Dairy is offering a special day of education to meet with their team and take a private tour of their caves on the Saturday before our journey begins. We have 3 rooms left!
FRANCE 2023
David Robinson (below), Formaggio’s Imports Manager, will co-host our popular journey to the Alpine Regions of France and Switzerland. David has experience selecting wheels of Comté for Formaggio Kitchen, a process that instilled in him a sense of respect for both the cheese and the immense amount of sweat, tears and love the cheesemakers put into each wheel. A longtime cheese educator, David has taught classes on both sides of the counter: to cheesemongers and customers. We’re thrilled that he’ll be introducing our travelers to some of his favorite wheels from around France and Switzerland.
Who can sign up for these tours?
Anyone with a passion to learn about artisan food, including cheese, wine, hard cider, and more! Our collaboration tours with cheese shops are not limited to shop customers -- a question I am sometimes asked. Our tours are designed to unite food lovers from around the world and give them insider access to the industry.
Our recent Italy tour included travelers from Belgium and Denmark, and we had FIVE returnees. Wow, proof that once you travel with Cheese Journeys, you crave more cheese journeys!
I’m so thrilled that our CJ team and tour list is growing. Thanks for all your support of what we do. If you’re interested in traveling with us, please don’t hesitate to peruse our itineraries and reach out to me directly at anna@cheesejourneys.com. And yes, I'll be sharing the link to register for our new Paris cheese tour and our popular 2023 Bra Cheese Festival for professionals very soon.