Vella Cheese Company, 80 Years Of Making Cheese
In 2006, Ig Vella’s accomplishments in the field were honored with the first-ever lifetime achievement award by the American Cheese Society. He had not only won countless gold and silver medals for his cheeses over the years, he also had been a tireless champion of younger, small-production cheesemakers. Vella’s death left people in Sonoma Valley wondering if the Vella Cheese Company, the oldest artisan cheesemaker in Sonoma Valley, could survive his loss.
