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photo: kirsche222 Flickr
SarVecchio Parmesan cheese, produced by John Griffiths of Sartori Foods in Antigo, Wisconsin, was named US Champion at the fifteenth biennial United States Cheese Championship, held March 17th-19th, 2009. This artisanal cheese, aged at least 20 months, is described by Sartori Reserve as having “a distinctive fruity flavor with lightly roasted caramel notes – consistently judged the best U.S. Parmesan.” This year it was named the best of 64 classes of cheeses and butters.
The United States Championship Cheese Contest is the largest, longest-running cheese competition in the U.S., with roots tracing back to the 1890s. It occurs only in odd-numbered years, and this year was held in the Atrium at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI. With 1,336 entries, this year’s contest was the largest in U.S. history.
2009 Champion
Twenty-four cheese experts from twelve states worked in teams of two, evaluating all 1,336 entries of cheeses and butters in 64 different classes. Cheese was visually scrutinized, thumped, mashed, sniffed, and tasted to detect any potential defects that result in points being deducted from the perfect score of 100. Gold, silver, and bronze medals were awarded in each of the 64 categories, and then the judges started all over again, evaluating 60 Best of Class cheese winners for the overall Champion award. While the judges spent three hours evaluating the final round of entries, the audience was entertained by professional cheese carver Troy Landwehr as he transformed 640lbs of cheese into a life-sized bust of Green Bay Packer Coach Vince Lombardi.
photo: falk1984 Flickr
The First Runner Up to the U.S. Champion was a wheel of hard goat’s milk cheese, Classico, by Tumalo Farms in Bend, Oregon.
Second Runner Up went to a medium-aged cheddar made by Pat Whalen of McCadam Cheese in Chateaugay, New York
Trega Foods in Weyauwega, WI took the gold for their mild and their sharp cheddars. The Southwest Cheese Company of Clovis, NM won top honors with their Monterey Jack, while best Swiss-style cheese went to Roth Kase USA Ltd of Monroe, WI.
The gold medals for salted and unsalted butters both went to Grassland Dairy Products of Greenwood, WI.
Do you wonder what American cheesemaker was judged to have made the best of your favorite type of cheese? Here you will find a list of links to the top winners from the 2009 United States Cheese Championship.
2009 U.S. Championship Cheese Contest gold medal winning cheese links
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