
Le Baluchon: 2014 Cheese of the Year. This year, it’s nominated for Best Organic Cheese.
Here you have them, the 117 finalists in the 2018 Canadian Cheese Awards competition, the biggest independent judging of cheese in Canada.
Winners and all finalists will be introduced to the public at Canada’s first-ever Artisan Cheese Night Market on June 7 at historic St. Lawrence Market in Toronto.
MAIN CATEGORIES (19) CATÉGORIES PRINCIPALES
FRESH CHEESE – FROMAGE FRAIS
FRESH PASTA FILATA CHEESE – FROMAGE À PÂTE FILÉE
SEMI-SOFT CHEESE – FROMAGE À PÂTE SEMI-FILÉE
FETA/CHEESE IN BRINE – Feta / FROMAGE EN SAUMURE
FIRM CHEESE – FROMAGE À PÂTE FERME
FIRM CHEESE WITH HOLES (Swiss-style) – FROMAGE À PÂTE FERME AVEC OUVERTURES
- Farmstead Emmental — Stonetown Artisan Cheese, St. Marys, Ontario
- Fleur de Weedon — Fromagerie P’tit Plaisir, Weedon, Québec
- Mont St-Benoit — Fromagerie Abbaye de St-Benoît-du-Lac, Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, Québec
- Suisse — Fromagerie Perron, Saint-Prime, Québec
- Swiss Gouda — That Dutchman’s Cheese Farm, Upper Economy, Nova Scotia
WASHED RIND CHEESE – FROMAGE À CROÛTE LAVÉE
MIXED RIND CHEESE – FROMAGE À CROÛTE MIXTE
BLOOMY RIND CHEESE – PÂTE MOLLE À CROÛTE FLEURIE
LACTIC RIPENED CHEESE – Fromage Lactique à croûte fleurie
MILD & MEDIUM CHEDDAR (aged up to 9 months) – CHEDDAR DOUX & MOYEN (maximum de 9 mois d’affinage)
OLD CHEDDAR (aged from 9 to 18 months) – CHEDDAR FORT (entre 9 et 18 mois d’affinage)
AGED CHEDDAR (aged more than 18 months) – CHEDDAR VIEILLI (plus de 18 mois d’affinage)
- Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar — Cows Creamery, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
- Cows Creamery 3 Year Old Cheddar— Cows Creamery, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
- Cows Creamery 2 Year Old Cheddar — Cows Creamery, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
GOUDA CHEESE – FROMAGE GOUDA
BLUE CHEESE – FROMAGE À PÂTE PERSILLÉE
FLAVOURED CHEESE – FROMAGE AROMATISÉ
FLAVOURED FRESH CHEESE – FROMAGES FRAIS AROMATISÉS
SMOKED CHEESE – FROMAGE FUMÉ
GRILLING CHEESE – FROMAGE À GRILLER
SPECIAL AWARDS (9) PRIX SPÉCIAUX
BEST COW’S MILK CHEESE – MEILLEUR FROMAGE DE LAIT DE VACHE
- Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar — Cows Creamery, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
- Cows Creamery 3 Year Old Cheddar —Cows Creamery, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
- Cows Creamery Appletree Smoked Cheddar — Cows Creamery, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
- Figaro — Glengarry Fine Cheese, Lancaster, Ontario
- Neufchatel — Golden Ears Cheesecrafters, Maple Ridge, British Columbia
BEST GOAT’S MILK CHEESE – MEILLEUR FROMAGE DE LAIT DE CHÈVRE
BEST SHEEP’S MILK CHEESE – MEILLEUR FROMAGE DE LAIT DE BREBIS
BEST WATER BUFFALO MILK CHEESE – MEILLEUR FROMAGE DE LAIT DE BUFFLONNE
BEST BLENDED-MILK CHEESE – MEILLEUR FROMAGE DE LAIT MIXTE
BEST FARMSTEAD CHEESE – MEILLEUR FROMAGE FERMIER
BEST ORGANIC CHEESE – MEILLEUR FROMAGE BIOLOGIQUE
BEST RAW-MILK CHEESE – MEILLEUR FROMAGE DE LAIT CRU
BEST NEW CHEESE (introduced to market during 2017) – MEILLEUR NOUVEAU FROMAGE (Mis en marché en 2017)
- Cows Creamery 2 Year Old Cheddar — Cows Creamery, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
- Cows Creamery 3 Year Old Cheddar — Cows Creamery, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
- Mountainoak Farmstead 3 Year Old — Mountainoak Cheese, New Hamburg, Ontario
REGIONAL AWARDS (5) PRIX RÉGIONAUX
BEST B.C. CHEESE – MEILLEUR FROMAGE DE LA COLOMBIE BRITANNIQUE
BEST WEST CHEESE – MEILLEUR FROMAGE DE L’OUEST (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba
BEST ONTARIO CHEESE – MEILLEUR FROMAGE DE L’ONTARIO
- Figaro — Glengarry Fine Cheese, Lancaster, Ontario
- Mountainoak Farmstead 3 Year Old — Mountainoak Cheese, New Hamburg, Ontario
- Original Artisan Chèvre — Cross Wind Farm, Keene, Ontario
- Ricotta — Ferrante Cheese, Woodbridge, Ontario
- Zerto Fresh Mozzarella — Quality Cheese, Vaughan, Ontario
BEST QUEBEC CHEESE – MEILLEUR FROMAGE DU QUÉBEC
- Alfred le Fermier 18 mois — Fromagerie la Station, Compton, Québec
- Hercule de Charlevoix — Laiterie Charlevoix, Baie-Saint-Paul, Québec
- Le 1608 — Laiterie Charlevoix, Baie-Saint-Paul, Québec
- Louis Cyr — Fromagerie Bergeron, Saint-Antoine-de-Tilly, Québec
- Origine de Charlevoix — Laiterie Charlevoix, Baie-Saint-Paul, Québec
BEST ATLANTIC CANADA CHEESE – MEILLEUR FROMAGE DES PROVINCES ATLANTIQUES
- Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar — Cows Creamery, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
- Cows Creamery Appletree Smoked Cheddar — Cows Creamery, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
- Cows Creamery 3 Year Old Cheddar — Cows Creamery, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Cheese is listed alphabetically within each category or award. Where more than three finalists are shown, there were many entries and close scores. The Cheese of the Year was selected after several rounds of blind tastings of the best cheeses from the above 19 main categories.
For the 2018 competition, judging on technical aspects and aesthetics took place February 22 and 23 at University of Guelph, Department of Food Science, with evaluation of cheese headed by Dr. Arthur Hill, Chair and Professor, Food Science.
The Awards Ceremony takes place June 6 in Toronto at historic St. Lawrence Market. The presentation of winners will be followed by an Awards Tasting Gala open to trade, media, and special guests. The following day, June 7, the inaugural Canadian Cheese Expo trade show for cheese industry, hospitality industry, chefs, media, food writers and bloggers takes place in the afternoon with the first-ever Artisan Cheese Night Market in the evening, open to the public.
The Canadian Cheese of the Year receives a prize of $5,000, thanks to Loblaw Companies, to support a marketing campaign to exploit being named the best cheese in Canada. Champions in each cheese category and provincial or regional champions will also be selected.
In 2018, a special prize of $5,000 for marketing also will be presented to the winner of the Best Cow’s Milk Cheese Award thanks to Dairy Farmers of Canada, our Principal Partner, Cow Milk Cheese.
It is the biggest cheese competition in Canada and the first open to all milks used in cheese making—cow, goat, sheep and water buffalo—with only pure natural cheese accepted for judging. That means with no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives, and no modified milk ingredients.
Canadian Cheese Awards is produced by Cheese Lover Productions which also operates The Great Canadian Cheese Festival in Picton, Ontario. The Cheese Festival is on hiatus in 2018 to allow resources to be devoted to the launch of Artisan Cheese Night Market and related events.
For additional information, mailto:awards@cheeselover.ca or telephone 1.866.865.2628.
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