The results are in from the annual American Cheese Society show, arguably the premier cheese competition in the United States.The big winner? Black Star Farms, a.k.a. the Leelanau Cheese Co., of Suttons Bay, Michigan. The company's Aged Raclette beat out over 1,200 entries to take the “Best of Show” award.
Black Star Farms wasn't the only cheesemaker to win plaudits though. Fast-rising Beecher's Handmade Cheese of Seattle took home second place overall for their Flagship Reserve. (Technically, the ACS called them "first runner-up", but by my math that means second.)
Meanwhile, another entrant from the Upper Midwest, Wisconsin-based Roth Kase USA, came in third ... er, "Second Runner-Up" ... for the Roth’s Private Reserve.
Vermont Shepherd, a sheep's-milk cheesemaker in Putney, Vermont, was honored as the best farm house cheese in the country.
2 comments:
Does your opinion mirror the judges'? I'm curious to know who the judges were and just how they came to their decisions.
Well, I've had the Beecher's which is very good (not sure if it's one of the top 3 in the land, though). The Vermont Shepard is also pretty special. Haven't had the winner yet, but I just ordered some. I've tried other cheeses from Roth, which were fine but didn't blow me away. I'll have to check out their winner, though.
There's a bunch more info about the competition at www.cheesesociety.org.
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