Paso Robles farm Reves de Moutons debuts its new venture Black Market Cheese Co. 

Watch out, Wisconsin! The country's second largest cheese producer, California, is giving "America's Dairyland" a run for its money. Both states eclipse the rest of the country in production, with Wisconsin at 3.5 billion pounds annually, and California at nearly 2.5 billion and growing, according to research firm Statista.

In the Golden State, more than 80 percent of its milk cows—providing the most common ingredient for cheese—are concentrated in the Central Valley. Not surprisingly, due west on the Central Coast—home to wine mecca Paso Robles and surrounding San Luis Obispo County—producers are churning out alternative, gourmet varieties to keep pace with its rapidly rising culinary reputation.

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• Photo Courtesy Of Black Market Cheese Co.
• ABOUT TOMME Cloud 9, a bloomy white rind brie-style cheese—top, center, and bottom—is sandwiched between A Tomme to Kill and Tomme After Tomme. Low-fat, natural-rind tommes develop complex flavors as they age. Peruse the full seasonal lineup at Black Market Cheese Co. in Paso Robles.

In September, Black Market Cheese Co. in Paso Robles celebrated its grand opening, joining the ranks of industry standouts such as Stepladder Ranch & Creamery in Cambria; Central Coast Creamery, with locations in Paso and SLO; Shooting Star Creamery in Paso, and Cal Poly Creamery in SLO, said Black Market proprietors Evan and Kristy Bishop.

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• Courtesy Photo By Rosa Lima
• LIVIN' THE DREAM Kristy and Evan Bishop, owners of Reves de Moutons farm and Black Market Cheese Co., enjoy sunset on their Paso Robles property.

Specializing in sheep and goat cheese, and offering tours, tastings, charcuterie boards, and more, "we wanted to be a complement to all the amazing wines here on the Central Coast," Evan said.

With zero plans to mass produce, the Bishops instead focus on quality and an intimate, immersive farm experience, with three guest cottages planned for early 2024.

Roaming their 10-acre property, called Reves de Moutons, are 40 East Friesian ewes and another "10 girls that we already have but were too young to breed this year," Evan said.

"[Additionally], we have 30 milking Nubian goats, two rams, one buck, and a partridge in a pear tree," he teased. "We also have about 30 hens that are wonderful egg layers, two turkeys that are a riot to watch, and, of course, we couldn't manage any of it without our border collie Mathilde. She ... runs the farm. We just live here."

Reves de Moutons is French for sheep dreams.

"For us it has a double meaning, in that we dreamed of having a sheep farm," Evan explained. "We also wanted to create a place where our sheep—all of our animals, really—are loved, respected, and treated with kindness and humanity, a place that sheep would dream of."

Although Evan is a former professional photographer, his farming roots run deep, having spent childhood summers at his family's dairy and beef cattle ranch in rural Maine.

He said it wasn't until later in life that he "truly appreciated and longed for those slow days, full of work, but also being connected to the animals and land."

Kristy, meanwhile, grew up in Baltimore, Maryland.

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• Photo Courtesy Of Black Market Cheese Co.
• MIGHTY MATHILDE Evan and Kristy Bishop's 10-year-old border collie Mathilde oversees their prized flock of East Fresian dairy sheep. The German breed is a prolific milk producer—potentially 150 gallons over a 200- to 300-day lactation period.

"I didn't get a whole lot of farm experience," she conceded. "Unlike Evan, I didn't have pastoral summer vacations."

However, she added, "I've always worked in a profession where I've taken care of people, whether as a waitress or bartender, or my later career of caring for cancer patients."

Most recently she was an associate chief radiation therapist at UC San Diego, where she and Evan lived for five years prior to relocating to Paso Robles.

The move to Paso in 2013 was precipitated by trips to Paris—for their honeymoon—and Napa, and ensuing conversations about starting a new chapter that "draws on our strengths and ... fulfills us both," Kristy said.

Paso emerged as the perfect venue for their vision.

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• Photo Courtesy Of Black Market Cheese Co.
• FREE RANGE Reves de Moutons resident Punky Rooster, a Japanese bantam-Plymouth Rock cross, hangs with Gidget, "an Easter egger that lays beautiful peachy pink eggs," says owner Kristy Evans. The farm sells eggs for $4 per half dozen and $6 per dozen.

"When we first started playing with cheese making, we would pawn our experiments off on any friend or family member willing to try it," Evan said. "We knew it would be a lengthy process of getting funded and approved, and we joked we should just be a black market cheese company, and the name sort of stuck, even though we are very much a legally licensed dairy."

The Bishops primarily produce traditional European-style cheeses in small batches.

"We touch everything we make," Evan explained. "Most of our cheeses will have a shorter shelf life because we are not focusing on hard cheeses, which tend to last a bit longer. We aim to create a terroir cheese much like how wine takes on the terroir it's grown in."

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• Photo Courtesy Of Black Market Cheese Co.
• BEAUTIFUL BONBONS Among decadent product offerings at Black Market Cheese Co. are bonbons de fromage, including, from left, key lime pie, turbinado sugar and Asian five-spice, Moroccan spice, and dried pea flower and lemon zest. Prices are $12 per four-pack, with bulk pricing for special events.

They're making Cloud 9, a brie-style cheese; Silver Lining, a Valençay ash coated-style cheese; aged alpine tomme cheeses; and bonbons, which are fresh cheese, like chèvre, rolled in spices and herbs from local purveyors including Spice of Life in Paso and Kelpful in SLO.

They also work with Re:Find Distillery in Paso to make a seasonal cheese they call Gin Blossoms, which has a layer of spent botanicals from their gin in the middle of the cheese.

Additionally, the farm boasts a "modest garden where we grow most of what we eat," Evan said. "We also have a meat offering of lamb, chicken, and maybe, maybe turkeys—if they don't stop picking on Mathilde."

The Bishops are working with the county to be reclassified as a California Agricultural Homestay.

"Being able to offer meals that are truly from the land our guests are staying on makes for a really great agritourism experience," Evan said.

Kristy added that they are also partnering with a handful of wineries and restaurants to carry their products.

Chef Candice Custodio of Creston is a huge fan.

"I always describe tasting their cheese for the first time like that scene in Ratatouille when the food critic flashes back to his childhood eating food from his mother," she said. "I had a very similar moment when I took my first bite. In my mind I zoomed back to being in Lyon, France, sitting on the deck eating an after-dinner cheese plate with fresh and locally curated cheeses."

Custodio, proprietor of Chef Candice LLC and Latin dinner experience Club SupSup, said she is adding their products to her local cheese and charcuterie boards for private events and will also be featuring them at Club SupSup in January.

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• Photo Courtesy Of Black Market Cheese Co.
• THE GOAT Six-year-old Nubian nanny Sage, one of Black Market Cheese's star producers, greets proprietor Kristy Evans. The British breed yields high levels of milk solids and is the most popular dairy goat in the United States.

The dinner will be held at Reves de Moutons and might include a sneak peek at the property's new guest cottages.

"It's so important to us to provide the opportunity for people to ... understand where their food comes from and connect with the land," Evan said. "Whether it be by staying here on the farm, participating in farm chores, tasting cheese from the animals raised right here, or just unplugging for the day and being surrounded by nature, farms are a vital part of our existence." Δ

With a glass of local wine in one hand and a key lime bonbon in the other, it's the Central Coast life for Flavor Writer Cherish Whyte. Reach her at [email protected].