Joe Matos Cheese Factory - Santa Rosa, California

Jake and Natalie Baguley

This place is the stuff of cheese dreams. Off the beaten path, yes. Fancy, no. Worth the trip, absolutely.
This small farm produces some of the most delicious cheese, with a recipe all the way from Sao Jorge, Azores.
The shop woman was kind and explained the differences between the aged cheese.
Came for the cheese and left with a pound and a smile in my heart for Joe and Mary and their story.

Reaching The Soul

Cheese! Glorious cheese! The original cheese is what we chose and we wish we had stopped here first before we went to our wine tasting because it would have been perfect with the wine!
So delicious and the creamery is very primitive but the animals looked relaxed and happy and that’s all that matters!

Shen Gao

Lovely farm that happens to make Portuguese cheese from the island of Sao Jorge. The shop is teeny tiny and can only fit a couple people. The person who helped us didn’t speak great English and spoke Spanish, so my partner tried his best to communicate with Portuguese & broken Spanish. We also met the founder Joe Matos who happened to be working on a tractor when we visited. The cheeses are aged to three stages: 3months, 6months, and 16months. We were able to try them and all were delicious. About $8/LB (the 16months one slightly more), which was very reasonable. They also let us take a peek into the back where the cheese is made ? Worth a visit!

Maria Gajdus

Interesting little place. Very much a farm that produces cheese, rather than a tourist destination. They produce only 2 types of cheeses of a Portuguese variety ( St Jorge) both aged. The lady didn't understand us ( Guess she was portuguese) and let us try the cheeses before buying. We bought a bit of both, and it was really mild and lovely. Not too expensive at all ( $9 per pound or $13 per pound)

ALICE

Awesome cheese. Beautiful wheels of cheese. I bought 80 lb wheel. I love it. So does my family and friends! ❤️❤️❤️

Roger Carrillo

Great cheeses St George! Cheaper than in the market but you have to go down a one lane road, but worth the trip!

Tyler Gannon

A lovely place to stop if you're crossing this part of the county. Great plate to stop and buy cheese for your fresh baguette when you're out on a picnic date, as long as your date appreciates the finer points of dusty dirt parking lots and decrepit farm structures warn from decades of use, and still being used.

The cheese is good but not "out of this world." Just simple, really good, cheese.

Adam Gracia

If you are on the cheese trail Do Not Miss this stop it's a must try. This was our final stop of the day, we have visited 8 other Cheese Shop/Creamery’s on this beautiful March Saturday. This one is special, you drive down a single lane dirt road, literally passing the cows that produce the amazing cheese that is made on this farm. Drive past Joe’s house and pull over by the barn, there is nothing fancy about this cheese, but it is absolutely amazing. Joe is 80 years young and drives by on a tractor, you get out and enter a small room that fits 3 or 4 people and the nice lady behind a counter. There is one type of cheese aged to three different stages of perfection, it's creamy, and complex and progressively more crumbly. Everything is very authentic and delicious. The family is from St. George Island in the Azores, Joe Mattos came to America as a child and has been making cheese his entire life. It's a family owned operation and they make great cheese, not funky, stinky, flavored cheese, just one type of really good cheese. We purchased 1 pound of each cheese an it was under $20 absolutely fantastic. When we got home and broke out cheeses from all 9 NorCal Cheese places that we had visited today and this one stood out. I could eat it every day. What a truly great and absolutely authentic Creamery.