Say Cheese
Goats rare around here, but these kids deliver
By Gabrielle Myers
November 2024
Sacramento is a locavore’s blessing. Within 40 miles of the city, farmers produce diverse fruits and vegetables, bountiful olive groves and vineyards. Ranchers raise world-class beef, lamb, poultry and pork.
But one important food category is elusive: a local cheesemaker.
When I searched for a nearby dairy that produces its own cheese, I found just two: Jollity Farm Goat Dairy in El Dorado County’s Garden Valley and Spenker Family Farm in Lodi. Both make goat cheese from animals raised on their farms.
I headed to Lodi and asked Sarah Spenker Pratt about the lack of local cheese artisans. She explained regulations and barriers to production might reduce a dairy farmer’s willingness to make their own cheeses.
Thankfully, Spenker Family Farm offers many goat cheeses. Sarah’s mother Bettyann, a dynamic wine and cheesemaker, also teaches cheesemaking courses.
Bettyann Spenker makes traditional chevre. From there, she infuses local lemon and thyme, herbs de Provence, or roasted garlic and dill.
Bettyann developed a petite Syrah-infused cheese made with wine that she and husband Chuck produce from their vineyard. A “sweet pea” cheese, similar to a brie with white mold exterior and creamy exterior, was in production when I visited.
The family’s dessert cheese line combines local blueberries or peaches with goatmilk. Varieties include an aged gouda-like goat cheese and aged Diablo Sunset, a State Fair Gold Medal winner. The creamy Diablo tang left me wanting to eat the whole chunk.
Spenker is a “full transparency farm in that everything is always visible” in the cheesemaking process, Sarah says. The whole farm is on display, including spaces where 48 milk-producing goats live and Bettyann’s cheese production area.
For those of us weary of big agriculture, it’s refreshing to see each step in the cheesemaking process. Visitors can pet the goats and learn their names and personalities.
Bettyann and Chuck founded Spenker Winery in 1994, but the 60-acre vineyard has been in the family since Chuck’s great grandfather purchased the land in 1904. For decades, the Spenker family grew the famed Lodi zinfandel and sold grapes to winemakers.
Bettyann taught chemistry at Lodi High, and her expertise enabled her to improve the farm’s winemaking process. Sarah says her mom is “the brains behind the products.”
Sarah and sister Kate grew up on the farm and helped with cultivation and winemaking. After college, the women returned to help the business expand.
Spenker grows and bottles mostly zinfandel and petite sirah and produces chardonnay and moscato with local grapes. Kate, a painter and artist, makes the labels.
Bettyann started raising goats as a hobby and began cheesemaking in 2019. “Agritourism allows us to educate the public, makes the farm financially sustainable, and is the most fun way to keep the family goats,” Sarah says.
She calls the goats “tourism ambassadors.” Tasting room manager Alexandra Williams says, “Every employee also has their favorite goat.”
Some Spenker customers enjoy a goat sponsorship program, where they commit to donating one dollar a day to help the family feed and care for goats. Sponsors name baby goats when they arrive each spring.
In addition to Bettyann’s cheesemaking courses, agritourism opportunities include goat yoga, painting with goats and “goodnight goats,” where children and families spend 30 minutes putting the goats to sleep by reading them a bedtime story and cuddling.
Spenker earned the Lodi Rules Certified Green Label, which highlights seven sustainability categories. The family’s commitment to their goats, vines and customers shines through.
Spenker Family Farm is open Friday through Monday. For cheese and wine information, visit spenkerwinery.com.
Gabrielle Myers can be reached at gabriellemyers11@gmail.com. Her latest book of poetry, “Break Self: Feed,” is available for $20.99 from fishinglinepress.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
