Healthy plant-based creamery is at home in Napa

Written by: Lisa Adams Walter | Click here to read the full article

NAPA VALLEY, Calif. — The singular driving force behind Napa’s Nova Terra Creamery can be summed up in one word: compassion. Nova Terra, Latin meaning “new earth,” reflects the philosophy of founders Brook and Terri Penquite, a husband-and-wife team who have been living and sharing the plant-based life for more than 15 years.

“We believe in eating more compassionately for ourselves and for the earth and all of its inhabitants in the way of the new earth,” Terri said. “Our cheese is better for the planet and better for the animals. We are vegan for the animals 100%.”

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While the evolution of this plant-based creamery spans several years, the business is truly in its infancy. The artisan cheese has only been made in the Napa Valley for less than five months.

Terri is from California, and Brook grew up in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Collectively, this innovative pair brings decades of professional experience. Following endeavors in management, sales and training in the restaurant, wine and hospitality industries, they opened a beachside poke shop in Capitola Village near Santa Cruz. There they served an array of mostly vegetarian poke dishes, dotted occasionally with fresh tuna toppings.

Eventually the Rocky Mountains called, leading the Penquites to leave the poke shop and move to Durango, Colorado. There they owned a popular plant-based dining establishment for a number of years, with Brook in the kitchen and Terri running the front of house. It became increasingly expensive to ship plant-based cheeses, Terri said, so they began to make their own.

“It took us about six months to come up with cheese we really liked,” she said, “and people loved it.”

After continuously selling out and unable to meet demand and keep the cheese in stock, they realized that plant-based food options are slim. This instigated the move back to California, where family resides nearby, to focus solely on making cheese.

Rather than animal-produced milk such as those produced by goats, sheep and cows, Nova Terra’s cheeses are all made using either almonds or cashews. According to Terri, the most significant health benefits of a plant-based diet are that it lowers inflammation in the body, lowers cholesterol, is much easier on the digestive system and can reduce the risk of certain cancers.

Terri and Brook meticulously make each batch of Nova Terra cheese by hand in a commercial kitchen without intervention or assistance. Theirs is a craft that cannot easily be taught or passed on since there are no recipes to follow. Brook said there is a specific consistency, a trademark of each of their cheeses, that they seek.  

Only pure, organic and locally grown ingredients (unless an ingredient grown nearby is impossible to obtain) are used. There are never any fillers, lactic acid or other additives. Only the ingredients on each label, all of which are recognizable and can be pronounced, are used to make the cheese.  

Nova Terra Creamery produces more than a dozen artisan gourmet cheeses that span a wide range of ingredients, textures and flavors, ranging from a meltable mozzarella to a lemon ricotta to a wild mushroom wheel. 

Nova Terra Creamery’s regular menu of cheeses includes half-pound 4-inch wheels ($22 each) of sun-dried tomato basil, wild mushroom, lemon dill, balsamic fig and smoky jalapeño. Each can be cut into wedges and served, or like most any cheese once it is softened it can be spread.

The creamery also makes 8-ounce containers ($16 each) of lemon ricotta, truffle ricotta, the Sneaky Italian (burrata-style cheese with a pesto filling), mozzarella and the Salty Greek (a feta-style cheese).

For the upcoming holidays, seasonal offerings such as a cranberry almond wheel are available. At other times special flavors such as the Grateful Goat (a chèvre-style cheese made with herbs de Provence without a drop of milk from a goat) are created, reflecting the fresh seasonal ingredients that the Penquites can obtain nearby.

The couple is growing their business with intention. They want it to expand organically and naturally — they want to do it right.

“It’s important to us to grow slow and steady because we truly are an artisanal, small-batch creamery,” Terri said.

With a focus upon wineries, restaurants and upscale gourmet retail outlets, currently the cheese can be purchased at Oakville Grocery in Oakville and Little Saint in Healdsburg. Nova Terra is on the menu at The Harvest Table in St. Helena and also sells at the Napa Farmers Market and St. Helena and Calistoga Farmers’ Markets, where they offer samples of their cheeses to both the curious and the gourmand. Later this year they will be selling at the huge Marin Farmer’s Market held weekly on Sunday at the Marin Civic Center. They are also seeking a storefront location to open in the new year somewhere in the Napa Valley.

As they share samples of their cheese in markets, they don’t pressure anyone to purchase.

“We have had such a positive reaction,” Terri said. “You always have one or two people that won’t try, but a lot of people that come back for the cheese aren’t even vegan or plant-based. They just like the cheese.”

“Our goal is to have conversations,” she said. “We are not trying to change people; we are just offering an option. Being vegan is in our house, but we aren’t trying to change anything or anyone.”

Since arriving in Napa this past June, the Penquites have connected with several animal-friendly groups such as Goatlandia and Jameson Humane, even participating at Jameson’s iconic WineaPAWlooza fundraiser.

"I am personally and professionally so very grateful to Terri, Brook and for the incredible awareness and impact their newly launched plant-based Nova Terra Creamery is having on our community that cares deeply about climate change and the planet's future, as well as animal welfare,” said Monica Stevens, president of Jameson Humane. “I look forward to seeing all the results of their hard work and efforts and mindfulness for plant-based eating and living."

As to sharing both their lives and their business, the Penquites say they work really well together. When they ran restaurants, they each had a separate role and space in the business, but this one is different. They share the same direction and mission, yet at times always being in the same space can be challenging. Often Brook manages one farmer’s market and then Terri hosts the next.

The big picture for them is the same, with each of them finding ways to build their dream together. He does the phone calls; she emails and texts. They strike a balance, and it works. They speak enthusiastically, the banter between them a duet where one often enhances the comments made by the other, supporting each other verbally as in life.

Nova Terra Creamery originally was hesitant to ship cheese, primarily due to the company commitment to remain sustainable, and Styrofoam was formerly a necessary ingredient to safely ship perishables. Now a fully compostable, sustainable solution called Green Cell Foam will make Nova Terra cheeses available via shipping in early 2024.

In addition to using Nova Terra cheeses as appetizers, spreads or on a cheese board, the Penquites suggest several ways to incorporate the cheeses into a wide array of dishes. The lemon dill works beautifully in Linguini With Lemon Dill Beurre Blanc and the wild mushroom in a Mushroom Stroganoff or as a creamy base for a mushroom pizza.

The smoky jalapeño naturally transforms into a jalapeño cream sauce ideal for enchiladas. Spinach Melt, a flavorful meal, features melted feta and mozzarella cheeses along with sautéed onions, wilted spinach and blistered cherry tomatoes served on fresh crusty bread.

Lemon ricotta can head in a sweet direction for a show-stopping brunch or dessert when used in a berry-filled crepe topped with coconut whip, maple syrup and lemon zest.

“It was a great move to come to the Napa Valley,” Terri said she and her husband concluded. “We have been so welcomed, and we love it here.”

Nova Terra Creamery has found its home in Napa.  

For more about Nova Terra Creamery visit NovaTerraCreamery.com and follow on Instagram @NovaTerraCreameryNapa.