SONOMA, Calif. — Ditty Vella is the daughter and granddaughter of cheesemakers and has been active among the foodies in Sonoma, Calif., throughout her life. So it only made sense when she opened her own store, a self-described “eclectic” mix of cheese and other foods, that she named the store “The Cheesemaker’s Daughter.”

The store, featuring cheeses from around the world, opened on Mother’s Day 2003. The venture is a partnership with Gary Edwards of Sage Marketing, with whom Vella has worked for years. Edwards, who financially backs the store and who works the counters there as needed, says the store provides something of a test market for the cheeses he represents. But it is Vella whose personality is the driving force of the shop.

“The real focus is the character of Ditty. People come in and ask, ‘Is there really a cheesemaker’s daughter?’ It breaks the ice. It opens up the conversation and sells cheese,” Edwards says.

“They come in, meet Ditty and buy $50 worth of cheese,” he adds.

If only it were always that easy. But oftentimes it is, because the store continually is gaining a reputation among both tourists and locals.

The Cheesemaker’s Daughter is located off historic Sonoma Plaza in what was formerly Readers’ Books. The plan to open a store, at one point just a thought in the back of Vella and Edwards’ minds, wasn’t fully formulated until the space became available.

“It’s the space that makes it what it is,” says Vella, who lovingly describes the building that once was home to a bakery in her hometown.

“I have very fond memories of this place,” she says.

With the ideal space available for a retail store, Vella and Edwards negotiated a lease and for the past 16 months have been operating The Cheesemaker’s Daughter. The store encompasses about 900 square feet including the front room and the former oven room.

“When we started we didn’t know what direction it would end up,” says Vella, who thought at first that in addition to cheese she might sell items locals need on a regular basis like milk, butter, eggs and cat food.

But as the business got going, cheese turned out to really be the focus along with a whimsical variety of specialty foods and picnic supplies — fig spreads from Croatia, Belgian chocolate, pepper grinders, organic fruits and vegetables in season, coffees, teas, baguettes and the like. It reflects the interests of both Vella and Edwards, who are involved in the Slow Food movement and who also own an interest in a local dairy farm.

Sonoma is a tourist town, and Vella didn’t know at first how the perishability of cheese would affect customers’ interest in the shop. But she’s found that tourists carry coolers, and the store offers frozen gel packs for free. Customers come looking for new cheeses to try, local cheeses or something special for an event or picnic.

“It’s a nice balance of locals and tourists,” she says of her customer base.

The store has been such a hit that Vella and Edwards have been approached about offering the trademarked The Cheesemaker’s Daughter store as a franchise.

But those interested in the company will have to make the trip to Sonoma at least for the foreseeable future. A franchise is not in the cards at this stage of the game, Edwards says. Vella adds that The Cheesemaker’s Daughter’s strength, in part, lies in that she and Edwards are known in the community.

“I can’t imagine going to place where I didn’t know anyone,” Vella adds.

The Cheesemaker’s Daughter offers about 70 varieties of cheese. Locally-produced Loleta Cheese’s Cheddar is sold at the store as well as cheese from small award-winning California companies like Cypress Grove Chevre and Cowgirl Creamery, among others.

What may surprise some people is that The Cheesemaker’s Daughter doesn’t carry much by the way of Vella’s father Ig’s cheese.

That, Vella says, was a strategic decision made because Vella Cheese Company of California is located only a few blocks away from the store. While The Cheesemaker’s Daughter carries a couple of the most popular cheeses made at Vella Cheese, the factory and its store are so close that The Cheesemaker’s Daughter simply refers people to the factory. In fact, the store has printed postcards with directions to the factory.

The Cheesemaker’s Daughter does carry a number of Wisconsin-made cheeses, including cheeses from Carr Valley and Klondike Cheese.

“Wisconsin is doing some interesting things with specialty foods,” Vella says.

Also among those Wisconsin cheeses are a number of cheeses from Roth Käse, a specialty cheesemaker and marketer. Edwards was among those involved in the start up of the company in the early 1990s and still markets cheese for Roth Käse USA. For the past couple of years, Edwards has been aging some of Roth Käse’s Gruyere in Zinfandel barrels at Cline Cellars in California; some of that cheese will be ready for the holidays and will be available at The Cheesemaker’s Daughter, he says. The man-made cave where the cheese is being aged, 50 feet below the ground, recently was finished and more cheese will be aged there, he adds.

The vast majority of the cheeses The Cheesemaker’s Daughter offers are available for sampling by customers. Vella believes sampling really is what can sell a cheese. That, and a friendly explanation behind the sampling.

“It’s like wine, they’re cowed by it,” Vella says of some customers’ initial reactions to high-end specialty cheeses. “They don’t want to look stupid.”

Vella often uses Manchego as an entrance cheese to get customers to try something just a bit more exotic than the fare they may be used to.

“You make them feel like they’re explorers, that they’re open-minded and then they end up buying something far from Manchego,” Vella says, adding that it’s important to her to make sure that customers not only are going to like the cheese while they are hearing her talk about it but also when they take it home.

The store gives Vella and Edwards the opportunity to teach consumers about a wide variety of cheeses.

“Some customers want European cheeses,” Vella says, “but regulars say ‘give me something that’s new.’”

“We offer a taste of the world to people,” Edwards adds.

Vella and Edwards also are in the midst of planning for the holidays and what they expect will be increased traffic in the store. They plan to have the company’s website launched by then.

Other than Vella and Edwards, who also operate their other food-related ventures, the store is staffed by part-time employees who are enthusiastic about cheese and who have been trained by Vella and Edwards. Edwards hopes to provide more training for them, too, as well as give other cheese enthusiasts additional experience. In particular he is looking forward to when employees from the famed Neal’s Yard Dairy in London will visit the shop and spend a couple of weeks working there and experiencing Sonoma Valley. Vella herself just returned from a two-week stint at Neal’s Yard.

Edwards sees the shop as being a resource and experience for people both in and outside the dairy industry.

“We’re on a mission here to spread the word about great cheeses,” Vella adds.

CMN