Sonoma, CA — The judges at the 2020 World Championship Cheese Contest in Wisconsin awarded Laura Chenel Creamy Spreadable Goat Cheese Best in Class in the Soft Goat’s Milk Cheeses category with a score of 99.55 over two dozen entries from the U.S., Spain and Mexico. This is the first Best in Class win for Laura Chenel.
Laura Chenel also won second in the Yogurt – All Other Milks category for its Vanilla Goat Milk Yogurt with a score of 99.45.
Founded in 1957 by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association and billed as the biggest cheese competition in the world, the World Championship Cheese Contest takes place every other year in Wisconsin. The world’s top cheese makers submitted a record-breaking 3,667 entries for the 2020 contest, March 3-5 in Madison. Cheeses were rated by an international team of technical judges on flavor, body and texture, salt, color, finish, packaging and other attributes specific to their category.
“These prestigious awards recognize Team Laura Chenel’s fresh cheesemakers for their commitment to crafting the best quality goat cheeses and goat yogurts with fresh goat’s milk from our network of 11 family-owned farms in the Western U.S.,” says Brandon Mahin, Laura Chenel’s national sales director. “The Best in Class award further distinguishes Laura Chenel for its excellence in the soft goat cheese category at home and around the world.”
Laura Chenel Creamy Original Spreadable Goat Cheese (7 oz.) is the same great-tasting but creamier version of the classic French-style log that Alice Waters sliced into rounds, breaded and baked for her iconic mesclun and goat cheese salad at Chez Panisse in Berkeley.
Incredibly smooth, full of fresh, tangy flavor and perfect on toast, bagels and crackers, Laura Chenel Creamy Original Spreadable Goat Cheese is an alternative to cream cheese or crème fraîche, cow’s milk products that some find harder to digest. It contains no additives or preservatives and has 45 percent fewer calories than crème fraîche. Melt it into sauces, mix it with herbs for fillings or fold it into fluffy goat cheesecake.
Laura Chenel Vanilla Goat Milk Yogurt (4.75 oz.) French-style goat milk yogurt made in small batches using non-homogenized goat milk fresh from family-owned farms. Available in 4.75-ounce glass jars with gold foil lids ideal for a morning energy boost, a healthy lunch component or an afternoon pick-me-up. Winner of Best in Class at the 2019 U.S. Championship Cheese Contest.
Both products are gluten-free and certified Kosher by Kashruth Certification.
Laura Chenel has earned ample industry recognition in the past year with awards including Best in Show at the 2019 California State Fair for its aged Ash-Rind Buchette and first place at the 2019 American Cheese Society Competition for its Original Medallion. In January, 2020, Laura Chenel Crottin won a Good Food Award.
Look for Laura Chenel Creamy Original Spreadable Goat Cheese, Vanilla Goat Milk Yogurt and other award-winning Laura Chenel cheeses and yogurts at specialty grocers and cheese shops across the West Coast and the Rockies. Go to the store locator on the website to find Laura Chenel products: https://laurachenel.com/where-to-buy
About Laura Chenel
Laura Chenel introduced a new chapter in American cheese in 1979 when she started making farmstead goat cheese with milk from her own goats using techniques she learned in France.
Today, Laura Chenel still embodies its founding namesake’s pioneering spirit as a leading producer of fresh and aged goat cheeses and goat yogurts crafted with fresh goat’s milk from family-owned farms in California, Oregon, Nevada and Idaho. Located in the heart of Sonoma County, Laura Chenel is the first creamery in the U.S. to be awarded the prestigious LEED Gold certification and its commitment to sustainable practices, including solar energy and recycling, helps preserve the terroir for generations to come.
For more information, visit us at LauraChenel.com or follow us on Instagram or Facebook @LauraChenel.
