Oregon Cheeses Are Piling Up National and International Awards

Friday, December 04, 2015

GoLocalPDX Lifestyle Team

The Cheese industry in Oregon is on a winning streak of significant national and international awards. The Oregon cheese makers may be more about quality than quantity.

At the nationals Oregon artisan, farmstead, and specialty cheese makers placed among the top states in the nation for the number of honors awarded during the American Cheese Society’s 2015 Annual Cheese Competition, winning a total of 19 ribbons, including eight first place recognitions.

Those awards awards were this summer. Things got more interesting this week when it was announced that Oregon cheeses won four medals at the International Competition held in Birmingham, England.

In both competitions, entrees from Oregon cheese-makers were just a tiny fraction on those submitted.

At the American Cheese Society’s 32nd Annual Conference held in Providence, Rhode Island:

Notable wins were firsts for Face Rock and Tillamook in two crowded Cheddar subcategories.

Winning Oregon cheesemakers took honors in 11 categories and 19 subcategories.

Included were Ancient Heritage, Portland; Briar Rose, Dundee; Face Rock, Bandon; Ochoa Queseria (Don Froylan), Albany; Rogue, Central Point; Tillamook, Tillamook; and Willamette Valley Cheese, Salem.

International Gold

At the International events, Four Oregon cheeses took home medals, including one coveted “Super Gold” at the 2015 World Cheese Awards, which took place this past weekend in Birmingham, England. The winners from Oregon are:

Chaumine from Goldin Artisan Goat Cheese (Molalla) – Super Gold

Goata from Ferns’ Edge Goat Dairy (Lowell) – Gold

Lorelei from Briar Rose Creamery (Dundee) – Gold

Mount Mazama from Rogue Creamery (Central Point) – Bronze

There were 2,727 entries from around the world entered in the International competition. The Goldin Artisan Chaumine, a creamy washed-rind goat cheese, can now claim to be one of “The World’s Best 62 Cheeses," and only eight were from the United States.

“The Chaumine is a special cheese for me because making it is more challenging than any other cheese in my portfolio,” says Carine Goldin, owner and cheesemaker at Goldin Artisan Goat Cheese. “On a personal note, it was named after a beloved place in my childhood in France. So it was a great honor to be able to compete against some big names worldwide in the cheese business and pull a Super Gold!”