RANDOLPH, Vt. — The Vermont Cheese Council (VCC), an organization dedicated to the production and advancement of Vermont Cheese, announced that 5 cheese companies, all members of the Vermont Cheese Council were awarded 20 ribbons including 5 Best in Class at the United States Championship Cheese Contest®in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The United States Championship Cheese Contest® is the premier technical cheese, butter, and yogurt competition. 2019 marks the 20th biennial edition, hosted by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association with over 2,303 entries from across the U.S.
This year, winners included Cabot Creamery Cooperative teams in Cabot and Middlebury, Vermont and West Springfield, Massachusetts; McCadam Cheese, Cabot’s sister creamery co-op in Chateauguay, New York; Vermont Creamery in Websterville, Vermont; Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro, Vermont.
More local winners included Grafton Village Cheese Company, which was awarded two ribbons. A second-place ribbon was awarded for Queen of Quality Clothbound Cheddar, a reserve cave-aged clothbound cheddar of limited quantity. Grafton Village was also awarded a second-place ribbon for Bear Hill, a washed-rind, cave aged raw milk sheep cheese. Along with top of the line raw milk aged cheddars and flavored cheddars, Grafton is recognized for its sheep’s milk and blended milk aged cheeses. Grafton Village Cheese Company is located in Brattleboro and Grafton, Vermont. The Grafton Village Cheese Company is part of the Windham Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to the preservation of Vermont’s rural way of life.
Wegman’s Food Markets was also recognized with a third-place ribbon for its collaboration with Spring Brook Farm in Reading, Vermont. for The Full Ver-Monty. In recent years, Vermont cheesemakers have been working within the affinage system of producing green cheese to be aged by affineurs around the country. The affinage system allows cheesemakers to have working capital and frees up cave space in their own facilities. Working with experts in cave aging (affineurs,) the cheeses can develop under very specific environmental conditions to bring out flavor and nuances in the final aged cheese. This allows for very different stylistic variations in the cheeses.
The Vermont Cheese Council is a statewide membership-based organization with 50 principal cheese- producing members and over 20 associate members. The VCC is committed to promoting the advancement and quality of Vermont cheese through promotion, education and strong peer to peer support. The organization has been in existence since 1992. For more information, please contact: Tom Bivins, Executive Director at [email protected] call 802-451-8564 or visit the Vermont Cheese Council website at www.vtcheese.com.
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