Cheese Profiles: Sagittarius by Shooting Star Creamery

In our series of Cheese Profiles, we further examine those cheeses that have been called out as best sellers from places in our “Cheese Shops We Love” series. Next up, Shooting Star Creamery’s complex but approachable Sagittarius.

“Shooting Star Creamery is flying under the radar and shouldn’t be,” says Diana Brier of Las Vegas’s Valley Cheese and Wine, one of the shops profiled in our Cheese Shops We Love series. “I mean, (cheesemaker) Avery Jones might be out of high school, but I don’t think she’s in her 20s yet. And working with sheep milk first, you’re just like, okay, who starts with sheep?” 

While Sagittarius wasn’t Jones’s first cheese, it’s fitting that she named it after the celestial Archer, because she definitely hit a bullseye with Sagittarius. (Also that the creamery is named Shooting Star has a built-in, aiming-high metaphor that really works as well.) Here we dive into the ins and outs of what makes Sagittarius worthy of acclaim.

 

What is Sagittarius?

Sagittarius is a mixed-milk, pasteurized sheep and cow’s milk cheese from California by Avery Jones of Shooting Star Creamery. Made with vegetarian rennet, and aged for a minimum of 3 months, the semi-firm cheese is described by Shooting Star as gouda-style.

 

History of Sagittarius

The history of Sagittarius must begin with a history of its cheesemaker, Avery Jones, which must begin with the history of Central Coast Creamery, its parent company. (And literally, its parents.) Reggie and Kellie Jones began Central Coast Creamery in 2012, after Reggie had spent 25 years in the dairy industry as a Production Manager, VP of Operations, and Sales Manager. Paso Robles was chosen as the site for Central Coast Creamery because of its (then) burgeoning wine and artisanal food scenes. Central Coast makes cheeses from high quality milk sourced at local farms.

Having grown up in the Central Coast creamery, Avery Jones, the youngest daughter of Reggie and Kellie Jones, began Shooting Star as her own project. Her first cheese, Aries, took 3rd place overall at the American Cheese Society awards in 2019, when she was just 15 years old. (Shooting star, indeed.) Sagittarius is among her line-up of zodiac-themed cheeses, all utilizing sheep’s milk, (again, “who starts with sheep?”) including Leo and Scorpio in addition to Aries.

 

How Sagittarius is Made

Sagittarius is made from pasteurized sheep and cow’s milk collected from various small farms around Paso Robles, utilizing vegetarian rennet. In addition to particular cheese cultures, curd-washing is what specifically delineates a gouda-style cheese, a step in cheesemaking after coagulation where curds are rinsed to reduce the potential for lactic acid, resulting in cheeses of a sweeter nature. Sagittarius is young for a gouda-style cheese, released after 3 months of aging, preserving an especially creamy quality within its semi-firm structure.

 

Sagittarius Tasting Notes

Central Coast Creamery’s website describes Sagittarius as having “sweet and savory aromas of melted butter and berries,” as well as “notes of nuts, olive oil, and fresh herbs” on the palate. Tamales Bay Foods calls out its “rich minerality” from sheep’s milk, balanced by “a delicate nuttiness” from the cow’s milk. Houston Dairymaids referred to Sagittarius as “ethereal.”

 

Sagittarius Pairings

The “melted butter” aspect of Sagittarius does sort of beg to have it put on a snack board beside popcorn. Its natural sweetness can play nicely off of salty and savory partners in general, however, such as in a grilled cheese or an omelet with ham and spinach. To double down on its natural dessert-like essence, try it with shortbread cookies or salted caramel.

Does pairing a cheese from a teenage cheesemaker with an alcoholic beverage seem unjust, somehow? She does live in wine country, however, so…try Sagittarius with something that echoes its berry notes, as well as its ethos: One Woman Pinot Noir. (New York International Wine Competition 2022 Gold Medal winner.)