The Coming Out of American Cheese - The 6th Annual Oregon Cheese Festival

There's been an explosion of interest in artisan and farmstead cheeses in the United States as demonstrated in Oregon's 6th Annual Cheese Festival hosted by the historic Rogue Creamery on March 20, 2010.



Typically, Wisconsin and Vermont have been known as the "cheese states" but a whiff is in the air, a new wind of appreciation for cheese in the United States has resulted in many new creameries going online. American cheese is having a coming out of sorts, keeping in stride with their more senior European counterparts.

This was also confirmed in the World Cheese Championships that just took place on March 18, 2010 where 2,300 cheeses were judged by an international panel of judges. Out of 79 categories, New York took 6 gold medals, Idaho took 5, California 4, Vermont 3, Georgia and Pennsylvannia 2, and Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, New Jersey, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon and South Carolina took home 1 gold medal. An astonishing 21 gold medals were awarded to Wisconsin, as JSOnline reports. The world cheese champion for 2010 though, still goes to Switzerland this year. (Source)

Cheese World's Equivalent to The Olympics

The olympics of cheese and largest annual cheese competition, The World Cheese Championships, has crowned another Gruyere from Switzerland as best cheese in the world for two years in a row.

The Associated Press reports that Cedric Fragniere, from Emmi Kase in Kirchberg, Switzerland took the grand title. The first runner up, made by Andeer Sennerei, was also from Switzerland clearly distinguishing Switzerland once again, as a premiere cheese maker of the world.

Overall, there were over 79 categories on display in Madison Wisconsin this year, with awards given in each category to cheesemakers from all over the globe. Sheep cheeses from Spain, Havarti and Feta from Denmark, Gouda and Edam from The Netherlands and some surprising stand-outs for Mozzerella, Provolone, Parmesan and Ricotta from the United States are just a few (full list here). France only took one award this year in the Brie category.

U.S. cheesemakers, Tillamook County Creamery from Oregon and Kiel Cheesemakers, Flat Creek Lodge and Cabot Creamery took titles in the Cheddar category, along with Canada and Ireland, something to truly be proud about.

Savvy and curious consumers are propelling the cheese industry to make new varieties of cheese, resulting in the need for new categories in the games this year. The contest winners were announced March 18, 2010 among the 2,300 entries.