In the 19 years that Sélection Caseus, the Québec cheese competition, has been held, no one single cheesemaker has dominated the judging the way Jean Morin of Fromagerie du Presbytère did this year.
The indefatigable Morin, in collaboration with Marie-Chantal Houde of Fromagerie Nouvelle France, was awarded the prestigious Caseus Or prize for Le Pionnier, a beautiful Alpine-style cheese made with a blend of cow’s and sheep’s milk.
Le Pionnier also was named Best Blended Milk Cheese and Best Raw Milk Cheese.
Jean Morin was honoured four more times:
- Caseus Bronze — Religieuse, a cow’s milk cheese that is an excellent table cheese and perfect for raclette,
- Caseus Longaevi — Louis d’Or, 2 years, the multiple-award winner that is Morin’s pride and joy,
- Best Semi-Soft Cheese — Religieuse,
- Best Bloomy Rind Cheese — Brie Paysan.
In addition to three awards with Pionnier, Marie-Chantal Houde also won with:
- Best Sheep Milk Cheese — Zacharie Cloutier, 6 months.
Caseus Silver was awarded to Fromagerie La Station de Compton for Chemin Hatley, an organic farmstead cheese with a distinct floral flavor. It also won Best Cow Milk Cheese, Firm or Hard.
Other Caseus award winners:
Business that processes more than a million litres per year
Cow-milk cheese, Washed, mixed or natural rind
Soft
La Sauvagine
La Fromagerie Alexis de Portneuf
Montréal
Semi-soft
OKA Frère Alphonse
Agropur coopérative laitière
Montérégie
Firm or hard
Le Bâtisseur
Fromagerie La Vache à Maillotte
Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Bloomy rind
Le Pleine Lune
Fromagerie DuVillage 1860
Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Business that processes fewer than one million litres per year
Cow-milk cheese, Washed, mixed or natural rind
Soft
14Arpents
Fromagerie Médard
Saguenay – Lac-Saint-Jean
All business sizes
Goat-milk cheese
Washed, mixed or natural rind
Semi-soft
Tomme du Maréchal
Chèvrerie du Buckland
Chaudière-Appalaches
Firm or hard
Le Capra
Fromagerie La Suisse Normande
Lanaudière
Bloomy rind
Grey Owl
Fromagerie Le Détour
Bas-Saint-Laurent
Sheep-milk cheese
Washed, mixed or natural rind
Semi-soft
D’Eschambault
Fromagerie des Grondines
Capitale-Nationale
Bloomy rind
Fleur de Brebis
Fromagerie Le Détour
Bas-Saint-Laurent
All milk types or all business sizes
Unripened
Ricotta Fiorella
Saputo Produits Laitiers Canada s.e.n.c
Montréal
Interior-ripened without ripening holes
Louis Cyr
Fromagerie Bergeron
Chaudière-Appalaches
Interior-ripened with ripening holes
OKA L’Artisan
Agropur coopérative laitière
Montérégie
Blue-veined
Fleuron
Les Fromagiers de la Table Ronde
Laurentides
Grilling cheese
Le Fleur St-Michel
La Fromagerie du terroir de Bellechasse
Chaudière-Appalaches
Fresh curd cheese
Curds
Fromagerie P’tit Plaisir
Estrie
Cheddar
Agropur Grand Cheddar
Agropur coopérative laitière
Montérégie
Flavoured by smoking, maceration or the addition of favoured ingredients
Cheddar biologique vieilli à la bière noire
Fromagerie Perron
Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean
Flavoured by the addition of spices, vegetables, fruit or nuts
Fleur d’Ail
Fromage au Village
Abitibi-Témiscamingue
Best organic cheese
Fleuron
Les Fromagiers de la Table Ronde
Laurentides
Each year, Québec’s cheesemakers are invited to submit their best creations in the competition. All cheese makers, both large and small, can enter the race and see the fruit of their labour featured among the best cheeses Québec has to offer.
In 2017, after a rigorous evaluation process, a jury of 25 experts judged and assessed more than 217 cheeses, recognized 24 winning cheeses in as many categories, and awarded the prestigious Caseus Or prize to Le Pionnier, created by La Fromagerie du Presbytère and Fromagerie Nouvelle France.
Sélection Caseus is a registered trademark of the Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ). MAPAQ manages the contest through a steering committee made up of partners from Québec’s cheese industry.
