Grab a wine country map these days, and it might point you somewhere you didn’t expect: a creamery. A new trail is turning tasting-room road trips into cheese runs too, and it’s a fitting warm-up for National Wine and Cheese Day on July 25.
Sonoma County, the Finger Lakes and Oregon have been building this crossover for years, sending wine country visitors down the road to a barn or a cheese counter instead of straight to the next tasting room. Now those farm stops are becoming part of the trip itself, not just a detour.
That idea just went national. In early July, the Route 66 Cheese Trail opened, linking cheesemakers and shops across eight states from Illinois to California. The team behind it, Cheese Trail, built it with the New Mexico Cheese Guild and calls it the country’s first trail of its kind.
Sonoma already has a cheese trail
Sonoma’s California Cheese Trail connects close to 30 farms and creameries across roughly 100 miles of wine country. Some stops run tastings and cheesemaking classes; others are just working farms or shops. Either way, it’s one more reason to get off the tasting-room path.
The Finger Lakes pairs creameries with its wineries
New York’s Finger Lakes keeps it casual. Tourism groups point visitors toward local creameries right alongside the region’s wine routes, and travel guides regularly suggest pairing Finger Lakes wine with Finger Lakes cheese. No official map is needed because it already works like a trail.
Oregon’s cheese trail spans the state
Oregon’s statewide cheese trail connects creameries and shops behind more than 250 artisan cheeses made across the state. Two events anchor the calendar: the Oregon Cheese Festival, set for April 25-26, 2026, in Central Point, and The Wedge, coming Sept. 26, 2026, in Portland. Plenty of stops sit inside Oregon wine country, so a winery visit and a creamery run can happen the same afternoon.
That visibility matters for small cheesemakers, too. A recent agritourism webinar covered how tours and tastings can send customers straight to a creamery that might otherwise never see foot traffic.
This National Wine and Cheese Day, don’t pick between the vineyard and the creamery. Pick a trail, and go get both.
Jennifer Allen is a retired chef turned traveler, cookbook author and nationally syndicated journalist; she’s also a co-founder of Food Drink Life, where she shares expert travel tips, cruise insights and luxury destination guides. A recognized cruise expert with a deep passion for high-end experiences and off-the-beaten-path destinations, Jennifer explores the world with curiosity, depth and a storyteller’s perspective. Her articles are regularly featured on the Associated Press Wire, The Washington Post, Seattle Times, MSN and more.