Navarro Vineyards - Pennyroyal Farmstead

Pennyroyal Farmstead
Anderson Valley, Mendocino

Where every goat has a name

Goats have been in residence at our family's Boonville farm for half a decade and sheep for over a quarter of a century, but Pennyroyal's first cheese was not released until the spring of 2012. Sarah has been leading the family's effort to create an innovative, low-input, no-waste farm based on many of the sustainable farming techniques we've developed at Navarro. The farmstead is carpeted in wild pennyroyal and after developing an extensive soil profile map, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc vines were planted on the least fertile 23 acres with many of the remaining 77 acres devoted to producing feed for Pennyroyal's animals.

Farmstead cheese is even more select than artisan cheese. Farmstead means that all the milk comes from the farm's own animals, whom we have pampered from birth. Selling directly means that we are able to provide optimal care and feed for our animals and produce handmade cheeses that taste of a special time and place.

Erika Scharfen (right) is the cheesemaker at Pennyroyal Farmstead; like Sarah (left) she earned her master's degree at U.C. Davis - Erika studied cheese making and Sarah studied winemaking. Erika has been a cheesemaker in both France and California, so while our cheeses are handmade and produced in tiny quantities, they reflect international quality standards.

The vineyard was designed so that it can be rotationally grazed by miniature Babydoll sheep, replacing diesel driven tractors. A hundred goats and a small herd of sheep not only produce cheese, but also yield enough manure that, when converted to compost, provides the fertilizer for all of Pennyroyal's vines. The barns, milking parlor and creamery are solar powered and irrigation water comes from stored winter rainfall. Pennyroyal cheeses are already being served at some of the Bay Area's nicest restaurants: Ad Hoc, Bar Agricole, Commis, Delfina, Farmhouse Inn, Foreign Cinema, Gather, Gregoire's, JoLe, Scopa, Wood Tavern and Zuni Café.