Gilman Cheese is ‘Best of Class’ in national competition

Gilman Cheese is among the winners named in the 2023 U.S. Championship Cheese Contest held in Green Bay last week.

A total of 35 states were represented in the 2023 U.S. Championship Cheese Contest, with entries submitted across 113 classes. With an impressive 54 Best of Class finishes, Wisconsin earned the highest number of gold medals. Dairy manufacturers from California took home nine golds, and Idaho finished third in the ranking with eight Best of Class awards.

Gilman Cheese received “Best of Class” for its Colored Sharp American Cheese earning a score of 98.975 from judges. A statement from Gilman cheese recognized the research and development team of Sam Olson, Amy Flatten, and Jessica Gilbert. “[They] worked very hard to make this possible and we are extremely proud of their efforts,” the statement continued.

Other cheeses in that category were from Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery of New London with a score of 98.925 and CROPP Cooperative/Organic Valley of New Berlin with a score of 98.875.

Gilman Cheese was only one of several area operations to earn honors at the biennial competition.

Marieke Gouda of Thorp, swept the Edam and Gouda category with scores See GILMAN CHEESE on page 5 of 99.195, 99.095, and 98.91 for their young gouda.

Marieke Gouda also took second place for their mature gouda with a score of 98.93, narrowly missing out to the cheese that went on to be named the best in the country.

In the flavored gouda category, Marieke Gouda took best of class for their Marieke Gouda Black mustard with a score of 99.4 and took third place with their Marieke Gouda Foenegreek with a score of 99.025.

Marieke Gouda took second place in the smoked gouda category with their Marieke Gouda Smoked earning a score of 98.95.

They also took second place in the open class for semi-soft cheese with Marieke Golden with a score of 99.125.

Marieke took best of class with cold pack cheese with Marieke Gouda natural Gouda spread with a score of 99.5.

Finally, they also took third place in the flavored cold pack category for the Marieke Gouda Hatch pepper spread which had a score of 98.96.

The Jim Falls Cheese Team with AMPI in Jim Falls, took best of class in the pepper flavored Monterey Jack category with their Ghost Pepper Jack cheese which earned a score of 98.975.

The Jim Falls Cheese Team with AMPI in Jim Falls, took second place in the marbled curd cheese category with their Colby Jack which earned a score of 99.475. They also took second place in the smoked hard cheese category with Smokey Cheddar Cheese which had a score of 99.66.

In addition to competition in categories, cheese producers competed to be named the overall champions.

After two days of intense competition, an Aged Gouda was been named the 2023 United States Champion Cheese. The cheese, called Europa, is made by the team at Arethusa Farm Dairy in Bantam, Connecticut.

With an impressive score of 98.739 out of 100, Europa topped 2,249 entries from 197 dairy companies and cooperatives across 35 U.S. states in this year’s United States Championship Cheese Contest to win the coveted top prize.

First runner-up in the contest, with a score of 98.613, is Vintage Cupola American Original Cheese, a hard raw milk cheese made by Door Artisan Cheese Company of Egg Harbor, Wisconsin for Red Barn Family Farms in Appleton. The second runner-up position was awarded to a Medium Cheddar made by Dillon Sylla for Associated Milk Producers Inc. of Blair, Wisconsin with a score of 98.554.

“The men and women of the U.S. dairy processing industry are exceptionally passionate and dedicated to crafting quality products, and that commitment shines through in the high caliber of this year’s winners. We congratulate them on their hard-earned and well-deserved success,” said John Umhoefer, Executive Director for the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association, which hosts the biennial competition.

Hosted by WCMA since 1981, the biennial United States Championship Cheese Contest is the country’s premier technical cheese, butter, yogurt, and whey competition. A team of 42 nationally renowned judges evaluated all entries over the two-day event, held February 21-22 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The top three finishers for each entry class were announced on Tuesday and Wednesday following preliminary judging rounds. The nation’s Top 20 cheeses were released following Wednesday’s Championship Round of judging.