Canadian Cheese Grand Prix Champions 2011

The Dairy Farmers of Canada held their bi-annual cheese awards this past week and announced winners in seventeen categories plus the grand champion:

Grand Champion:

Louis D’or!! A nine-month aged farmhouse and organic cheese from La Fromagerie du Presbytere located in Quebec. This cheese also won in two categories: Firm Cheese and Farmhouse Cheese. Congratulations!!! La Fromagerie du Presbytere also took the Blue Cheese Category with their Bleu de l’Elizabeth.

The Lady and I have not had the pleasure of tasting this cheese but you can be sure, The Lady is already ferreting out a way to get a wedge into the manse. According to Phil Belanger, Chair of the 2011 Canadian Cheese Grand Prix Jury and President of the New-Brunswick Chapter de la Chaine des Rotisseurs, ‘’The milky richness of this cheese is a tribute to the organic milk with which it is made. The cheese has a smooth texture, warm nutty and floral notes in aroma and taste’’.

Category Winners:

Fresh Cheese: Mascarpone Tre Stelle, Arla Foods Inc. (ON)

Soft Cheese with Bloomy Rind: Island Bries, Little Qualicum Cheeseworks Ltd. (BC)

Semi-soft Cheese: Lankaaster Traditional Gouda, Glengarry Fine Cheese (ON)

Washed-Rind – Soft and Semi-soft Cheese: Le Mont-Jacob, Fromagerie Blackburn (QC)

Firm Cheese: Louis d’Or, Fromagerie du Presbytere (QC)

Swiss-type Cheese: Fromage Suisse Lamaire, Fromagerie Lemaire (QC)

Mozzarella: Bocconcini Santa Lucia, International Cheese Co. Ltd (ON)

Blue Cheese: Le Bleu d’Elizabeth, Fromagerie du Presbytere (QC)

Flavoured Cheese with Added Non-particulate Flavouring: Naturally Smoked Boerenkaas, Natural Pastures Company (BC)

Flavoured Cheese with Added Particulate Solids Flavouring: Gouda Herbs & Garlic, Sylvan Star Cheese Ltd. (AB)

Mild Cheddar: Mild Cheddar, The Black River Cheese Company Ltd. (ON)

Medium Cheddar: Cheddar moyen Biologique, Fromagerie L’Ancetre (QC)

Old, Extra Old Cheddar: Le Jersey du Fjord, Bergeries du Fjord (QC)

Aged Cheddar (1-3 years): Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar, Cows Creamery (PEI)

Aged Cheddar (4years+): Cheddar Doyen 4 ans, Fromagerie Perron (QC)

Farmhouse Cheese: Louis D’or, Fromagerie du Presbytere (QC)

The Lady and I congratulate all the winners and hope to soon taste each and every one of them…

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