The American Cheese Society’s Annual Competition
This week the American Cheese Society will hold its annual conference and competition in Burlington, Vermont. The ACS was founded in 1983 to provide "American cheesemakers with educational resources and networking opportunities" and to encourage "the highest standards of cheesemaking." Over those 24 years, the organization has seen the artisanal cheese industry in this country grow immensely; last year's conference in Portland, Oregon, saw record numbers of attendees.
In addition to the workshops, presentations, and farm tours, the ACS also organizes a competition in which hundreds (perhaps thousands this year) of American cheeses are sampled and judged by industry experts. Each year many winners are crowned in dozens of categories such as Soft-ripened Cheese or Marinated Sheep's Milk Cheese, but the most talked about award is Best of Show. Last year's Best of Show award went to Cabot's Clothbound Cheddar, a fantastically rich and caramelly cheese made in the Cabot factory but aged in the caves at Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro, Vermont. In 2005, cheesemaker Mike Gingrich won for his Beaufort-style Pleasant Ridge Reserve, which beautifully balances fruitiness with nuttiness and truly reveals the terroir of southwest Wisconsin.
Who will be the winner this year? With the American artisanal cheese industry growing at a breakneck pace, the 2007 competition promises to be fierce. We'll report back next week with the results.
About the author: Jamie Forrest publishes Curdnerds.com from his apartment in Brooklyn, New York, where he lives with his wife, his daughter, and his cheese.
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1 Comment:
From Vermont's WCAX, here's a nice little article on how the judging will work. Looks like there will be over 1200 entries!
curdnerd at 7:40AM on 08/01/07