The anticipation is building toward the climax of the 2016 Canadian Cheese Awards/Le Concours des fromages fins canadiens this Thursday in Montréal.
- Will a Quebec cheese again be crowned Canadian Cheese of the Year?
- Which cheese will be named Best Quebec Cheese of 2016? There are seven Quebec finalists within a few points of each other.
- What about Best Ontario Cheese? There are five finalists in a tight race.
- Who will win Best Blue Cheese, Best Cheddar and Best Gouda and 14 other main categories?
All together, 32 different champions will be crowned on Thursday, April 14, at the Awards Ceremony and Reception at popular Time Supper Club in downtown Montréal. The public is invited to the Awards Tasting Gala starting at 6 p.m.
More than 100 cheeses will be in the spotlight at the Tasting Gala, finalists and winners in the biggest cheese competition in Canada. Many cheesemakers will be present to engage with cheese lovers.
Admission includes more than 100 different cheese to sample as often as you wish, plus crackers, charcuterie and condiments. All you can eat, really! Wine, beer, sparkling water and juices available for purchase.
Click here to order tickets online at $25 per person plus tax. A ticket purchased in advance will provide speedy access to all the deliciousness inside Time Supper Club at 997 rue Saint-Jacques in Montréal. Tickets will also be sold at the door.
Time Supper Club is a short walk west of Palais des Congrès in downtown Montreal, two blocks from Bonaventure Metro Station. Originally, Palais des Congrès was announced as the venue for the Awards.
At the previous Canadian Cheese Awards in 2014, Le Baluchon, made by Marie-Claude Harvey and her team at Fromagerie F.X. Pichet in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, Québec, was honoured as Cheese of the Year. This year, Le Baluchon is a finalist in three categories. It is also in the running for Best Quebec Cheese and Cheese of the Year in all Canada.
Competition is extremely close for Best Québec Cheese honours. There are seven finalists, in alphabetical order:
- Allegretto – La Vache à Maillotte, La Sarre, Québec
- Baluchon – Fromagerie F.X. Pichet, Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, Québec
- Belle-Mère – Fromagerie Médard, Saint-Gédéon, Québec
- L’Hercule de Charlevoix – Laiterie Charlevoix, Baie-Saint-Paul, Québec
- Le Pionnier – Fromagerie Nouvelle France, Racine, Québec
- Louis d’Or – Fromagerie du Presbytère, Sainte-Élizabeth-de-Warwick, Québec
- Tête Dure – Fromagerie Fritz Kaiser, Noyan, Québec.
Best Ontario Cheese is also tightly contested, with five finalists:
- Bella Casara Mascarpone – Quality Cheese, Vaughan, Ontario
- Castello Smoked Gorgonzola – Arla Foods Canada, Concord, Ontario
- Lindsay Bandaged Goat Cheddar, Lenberg Farms Classic Reserve by Celebrity – Mariposa Dairy, Lindsay, Ontario
- Mountainoak Chili Pepper Smoked – Mountainoak Cheese, New Hamburg, Ontario
- Tania, Lenberg Farms Classic Reserve by Celebrity – Mariposa Dairy, Lindsay, Ontario.
Finalists are equally divided between Québec and other cheese-producing regions in Canada. They include large and small producers from Nova Scotia to British Columbia.
The Farm House Natural Cheeses, a small producer in Agassiz, British Columbia, and Quality Cheese in Vaughan, Ontario, each garnered the most nominations as finalists: eight. That Dutchman’s Cheese Farm of Upper Economy, Nova Scotia, has five nominations.
In Québec, Fromagerie du Presbytère of Sainte-Élizabeth-de-Warwick has been named finalist in seven classes. Fromagerie F.X. Pichet of Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, Cheese of the Year in 2014 with Baluchon, is finalist in five classes. Fromagerie Fritz Kaiser of Noyan, one of the pioneers in artisan cheese in Québec, has three nominations.
- AWARDS TASTING GALA
- Thursday, April 14, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
- Time Supper Club, 997 Rue Saint-Jacques, Montréal
- Tickets $25 per person + tax
- Order online: https://canadian-cheese-awards-tickets.eventbrite.ca
- Information: http://www.cheeseawards.ca/awards-presentation/
- For assistance in English, call 613.893.0959, in French, 613.888.5527.
The independent competition is open to all milks used in cheesemaking in Canada—cow, goat, sheep and water buffalo—with only pure natural cheese accepted for judging. That means with no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives, and no modified milk ingredients.
Loblaw Companies and Provigo are Marquee Sponsors. Additional support is provided by Dairy Farmers of Canada and Desjardins Group. Slow Food Montréal is the presenting partner, Yannick Fromagerie, the logistics partner.
The biennial Canadian Cheese Awards/Le Concours des fromages fin canadiens is organized by The Great Canadian Cheese Festival as a service to the cheese industry and a guide for consumers. The Festival is the biggest artisan cheese show in Canada, held annually the first weekend in June in Picton, Prince Edward County, in Bay of Quinte Region near Belleville, Ontario.
The 2016 Cheese of the Year and other award-winners will be in the spotlight at #TGCCF on June 4-5.
