Monteillet Fromagerie

Farm Stay

Walla Walla Beyond Wine

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In their latest issue which has just hit the stores, Seattle Met magazine confirms what we’ve known for a long time…”The best harvest in town isn’t made of grapes.” Writer David Laskin takes you to our fromagerie and gives you a little tour. Next time you visit Walla Walla wine country, come and visit us. Better yet, book a farm stay The Gite, our guest house, and spend some time with us.

photo: Pierre-Louis Monteillet from Seattle Met Magazine, July 2013
Pierre-Louis Monteillet, photo from Seattle-Met

Walla Walla Beyond Wine
The best harvest in town isn’t made of grapes.

By David Laskin
Seattle Met Magazine
July 2013

“Terroir—the taste of the land—factors into cheese as well as wine,,” says Joan Monteillet of Monteillet Fromagerie. “Pairing food and wine is much more interesting than just wine tasting—and you’re much more sober afterwards.”

“…The drive from Walla Walla to Monteillet Fromagerie takes you through quintessential Palouse landscape—25 miles of billowing wheat planted on pillows of loess. Joan Monteillet’s family grew wheat on these hills for three generations, but 13 years ago she and her French-born husband Pierre-Louis traded agro-biz monoculture for diversified niche farming. They bought 32 bucolic acres on the Touchet River near the tiny town of Dayton and pastured small herds of French Alpine goats and Lacaune sheep. They started making limited batches of gourmet cheeses. Then they added an organic vegetable garden and sold the produce on the farm and at farmers markets around the region. They opened a cheese tasting room and began offering cheesemaking workshops and cooking demonstrations. Today Monteillet Fromagerie is a pilgrimage stop on the agro-tourism circuit.”

Read this great article here>>

Monteillet did it again…Top 8 in agritourism experiences

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Sunset-Magazine-Logo-200

Top 8 agritourism experiences
Our favorite ways to experience the romance of the small farm (and pick up new skills), from now into harvest season

by Jess Thomson

“Save for the fact it’s in Eastern Washington, everything about the Fromagerie is unabashedly French. Rent the farmside gîte (French for “holiday home”) and live your own agrarian fantasy, with eggs, milk, and cheese straight from the farm, and a vegetable garden just outside your door.”

Read the entire piece here>>

Divine cheese and a farm stay at The Gite

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“Want a taste of farm life—and the Monteillets’ divine cheese…” Mountain Living recommends you come see us, have a farm stay at The Gite and learn to make cheese in one of your hands-one workshops.

photo for Mountain Living cover by Steve Scardina, http://www.scardinaphoto.com/

“In Washington’s Walla Walla Valley, an area known for producing luscious wines, Joan and Pierre-Louis Monteillet nurture a different (but perfectly complementary) craft: cheese-making. At the fromagerie on their 32-acre farmstead, the couple churn out fresh herbed chèvre, sheep’s-milk mozzarella, brie-style Cardabelle and other small-batch, totally natural cheeses made of milk from the farm’s own dairy. (The particular breeds of sheep and goats the couple raise produce milk with a high butter-fat content—perfect for making creamy French-style cheese.) The Monteillets use traditional methods that Pierre-Louis learned in Roquefort, France, where world-famous cheeses are aged in natural caves.”

Mountain Living’s March/April 2013, “For the Love of Local”

Wanderlust & Lipstick comes to visit

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Wanderlust and Lipstick, the women’s travel blog, came to visit us. Women, you will absolutely love our farm. Don’t take our word for it, ask Dayton Strong!

Photo: Joan and Pierre-Louis Monteillet from Wanderlust and Lipstick blog
Owners, Joan & Pierre-Louis Monteillet. Photo from Wanderlust and Lipstick blog
Beyond Wine: The Lavender, Goats, and Art of the Walla Walla Valley

by Daytona Stong
published September 17, 2012

“While wine is the big draw to the Walla Walla Valley, there’s a lot more going on in this little corner of southeast Washington. When you need to give your palate a break, check out the other sights and activities this area has to offer.”

Sorry, the blog post is no longer available online.

We’re one of Sunset Magaine’s top 8 agritourism experiences

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Top 8 agritourism experiences

Our favorite ways to experience the romance of the small farm (and pick up new skills), from now into harvest season

Sunset Magazine logo

By Jess Thomson
Published: August 2012

“The allure of the farm has always been powerful: It’s a throwback to a simpler way of life, in a setting that’s a whole lot more scenic than our daily office park habitat. And for many farmers, new tourist interest has allowed their farms to thrive. “Farmers are recognizing that people are willing to pay for this experience,” says Penny Leff, agritourism coordinator for the University of California Small Farm Program, whose researchers have seen a boost in the number of farms catering to visitors in recent years.

Another piece behind the agri-boom is that many of us are seeking experiences that go beyond a comfy bed and good meal. Barb Varian of the V6 Ranch in Parkfield, California, says booking inquiries for her family’s cattle drives have risen about 50 percent in the past two years. “As our world becomes busier, it seems people are longing for an adventure,” she says. In that spirit, here are our picks for farms to visit, whether you’re the type who likes waking up to a bottle of fresh milk on your doorstep—or wants to milk the cow.

ESCAPE FROM IT ALL

Forget five-star hotels. If you really want to feel completely away, book into a farm…

Monteillet Fromagerie, near Dayton, WA. Save for the fact it’s in Eastern Washington, everything about the Fromagerie is unabashedly French. Rent the farmside gîte (French for “holiday home”) and live your own agrarian fantasy, with eggs, milk, and cheese straight from the farm, and a vegetable garden just outside your door. $200…”

Read the August 2012 Sunset Magazine article here>>