Eighteen Canadian cheeses were honoured at this year’s American Cheese Society Judging and Competition held in Seattle on the weekend. It’s the largest cheese competition in the Americas with 225 producers from 34 U.S. states, Canada and Mexico delivering a record 1,462 cheeses and cultured dairy products for judging.
Fifteen of the winners are Quebec cheeses, two are British Columbia (Kootenay Alpine Cheese), and one is Ontario (Fifth Town Artisan Cheese). La Moutonnière won four times, the most wins for a single cheesemaker from Canada.
SOFT RIPENED CHEESES
Open Category, made from sheep’s or mixed milks
1st – Soeur Angele
Fromagerie Fritz Kaiser
Quebec
Triple Crème – soft ripened/cream added
2nd – Brie Le Trappeur Triple Crème
Damafro
Quebec
AMERICAN ORIGINALS
Oka
2nd – Douanier
Fromagerie Fritz Kaiser
Quebec
3rd – Mamirolle
Eco Delices
Quebec
AMERICAN MADE/INTERNATIONAL STYLE
Open Category, made from cow’s milk
2nd – Raclette Nature
Fromagerie Fritz Kaiser
Quebec
Emmental-style made from cow’s milk with eye formation
2nd – Frere Jacques
Fromagerie Abbaye St-Benoit
Quebec
3rd – Mont-Gleason
La Fromagerie 1860 DuVillage
Quebec
BLUE MOLD CHEESES
Blue-veined made from cow’s milk with a rind or external coating
3rd – Benedictin
Fromagerie Abbaye St-Benoit
Quebec
Blue-veined made from sheep’s milk or mixed milk with a rind or external coating
1st – Bleu de La Moutonnière
La Moutonnière
Quebec
FETA CHEESES
Feta made from sheep’s milk or mixed milks
2nd – Feta Naturel
La Moutonnière
Quebec
FARMSTEAD CHEESES
Open Category cow’s milk cheeses, hard
2nd – Alpindon
Kootenay Alpine Cheese
British Columbia
2nd – Nostrala
Kootenay Alpine Cheese
British Columbia
Open Category sheep’s milk and mixed milk
2nd – Fleur des Monts
La Moutonnière
Quebec
FRESH SHEEP’S MILK CHEESES
Open to all shapes and styles of rindless, unaged, fresh sheep’s milk cheeses
3rd – Cabanon
La Moutonnière
Quebec
WASHED RIND CHEESES
Open Category made from cow’s milk
2nd – Magie de Madawaska
Fromagerie Le Détour
Quebec
3rd – Guillaume Tell
Domaine Feodal
Quebec
3rd – Cantonnier
La Fromagerie 1860 DuVillage
Quebec
Open Category made from sheep’s milk or mixed milks
3rd – Bonnie and Floyd
Fifth Town Artisan Cheese
Ontario
Unlike other cheese competitions, where cheeses are graded down for technical defects, the American Cheese Society’s goal is to give positive recognition to those cheeses that are of the highest quality in their aesthetic evaluation (i.e. flavor, aroma, and texture), as well as their technical evaluation. As a result, the highest quality cheeses are those that the Society feels deserve the recognition of an American Cheese Society award, based on a minimum number of points awarded (totaling 100 points possible) for First, Second, or Third Place. In categories, or subcategories, where the minimum number of points is not earned, no awards are given.
