Vermont cheesemakers took home 15 top awards in the 2018 World Championship Cheese Contest held in Madison, Wis., the first week in March. The contest drew 3,402 entries from 26 nations, including cheeses, cheese foods and cheese spreads from the old favorites to the exotic, competing for the title of “World’s Best.” Awards were announced March 6.
Winning Vermont cheesemakers included:
- Cheddar-Mild, Cheddar-Medium, and Monterey Jack: Cabot Creamery Cooperative of Middlebury and Cabot, Best of Class
- Natural Rinded Cheddar: Grafton Village Cheese of Brattleboro, second and third place; Cabot Creamery/Cellars at Jasper Hill of Greensboro, fifth place
- Soft Ripened Cheeses: Jasper Hill Farm of Greensboro, Best of Class
- Smear Ripened Soft Cheeses: Jasper Hill Farm, the top two spots; Von Trapp Farmstead, third place; Consider Bardwell Farm of West Pawlet, fourth place
- Vermont Creamery of Websterville – first place in the Ripened Goat’s Milk Cheese category and Top 20 finalist with its Coupole
“Congrats to our world-class cheesemakers and farmers. Your commitment to your craft, animals, land and community is making Vermont a better place to live and work. You all should be proud of your accomplishments,” Alyson Eastman, deputy secretary of the Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets, commented.
The 2018 World Champion with a score of 98.376 was a hard sheep’s milk cheese from Mauleon Fromagerie, Esquirrou, France, a member of the Savencia Cheese USA Specialty Foods Association.
