RALEIGH — Chapel Hill Creamery took top honors and $100 in the N.C. State Fair Cheese Competition sponsored by Whole Foods Market.
The dairy’s Calvander, an Asiago-style cheese, won Best of North Carolina and Best of Show, in addition to winning a gold medal for best hard cheese. The Orange County dairy also won medals in the Mozzarella, Feta, Flavored Soft Cheese, Smear Ripened, Open Semi-Soft Cheese, Open Hard Cheese and Open Soft Ripened categories.
Twenty-three cheese makers competed. The competition had an international appeal this year, with a cheese maker from Australia joining entrants from North Carolina, Maine, Tennessee and Texas.
A team of five judges rated the cheeses on technical and aesthetic merits using the American Cheese Society’s point system: gold medal, 93-100 points; silver, 86-92; and bronze, 80-85.
Cheddar Styles
- Silver medals: Pineland Farms, New Gloucester, Maine
Mozzarella
- Silver medals: Chapel Hill Creamery and Hillsborough Cheese Co.
Feta
- Silver medals: Boat Shed Cheese, Mount Martha, Victoria, Australia; and Chapel Hill Creamery
- Bronze medal: Sleepy Goat Farm, Pelham
Flavored Hard Cheese
- Silver medals: Eagle Mountain Farmhouse Cheese, Granbury, Texas; and Pineland Farms Creamery, New Gloucester, Maine
- Bronze medal: Ashe County Cheese, West Jefferson
Flavored Soft Cheese
- Silver medals: Three Graces Dairy, Marshall
- Bronze medals: Three Graces Dairy and Chapel Hill Creamery
Smear Ripened Cheese
- Bronze medals: Chapel Hill Creamery and Looking Glass Creamery, Fairview
Open Soft and Spreadable
- Silver medals: Boat Shed Cheese, Mount Martha, Victoria, Australia; Three Graces Dairy, Marshall; Hillsborough Cheese Co.; Goat Lady Dairy, Pleasant Garden
- Bronze medals: Three Graces Dairy, Marshall
Open Semi-Soft Cheese
- Silver medal: Chapel Hill Creamery
- Bronze medal: Bonnie Blue Farm, Waynesboro, Tenn.
Open Hard Cheese
- Gold medal: Chapel Hill Creamery
- Silver medals: Eagle Mountain Farmhouse Cheese Co., Granbury, Texas; Three Graces Dairy, Marshall; and Ashe County Cheese, West Jefferson
Flavored Goat’s Milk Fresh Chevre Cheese
- Silver medals: Holly Grove Farms, Goldsboro; Bonnie Blue Farm, Waynesboro, Tenn.; Goat Lady Dairy, Pleasant Garden; Sleepy Goat Farm, Pelham; Three Graces Dairy, Marshall
- Bronze medals: Goat Lady Dairy, Pleasant Garden; Round Mountain Creamery, Black Mountain; Three Graces Dairy, Marshall
Unflavored Goat’s Milk Fresh Chevre Cheese
- Gold medal: Paradox Farm, West End
- Silver medal: Holly Grove Farms, Goldsboro
- Bronze medals: Bonnie Blue Farm, Waynesboro, Tenn.; Looking Glass Creamery, Fairview; Three Graces Dairy, Marshall
Goat’s Milk Aged Cheese
- Gold medal: Bonnie Blue Farm, Waynesboro, Tenn.
- Bronze medals: Sleepy Goat Farm, Pelham
Sheep and Mixed Milk Cheese
- Silver medals: Three Graces Dairy, Marshall
- Bronze medals: Boat Shed Cheese, Mount Martha, Victoria, Australia; Three Graces Dairy, Marshall
American Originals Open Cow or Goat’s milk
- Silver medal: Round Mountain Creamery, Black Mountain
- Bronze Medals: Bonnie Blue Farm, Waynesboro, Tenn.; Eagle Mountain Farmhouse Cheese, Granbury, Texas; Pineland Farms Creamery, New Gloucester, Maine; Looking Glass Creamery, Fairview
Open Soft Ripened
- Silver medal: Chapel Hill Creamery
- Bronze medals: Boat Shed Cheese, Mount Martha, Victoria, Australia; Goat Lady Dairy, Pleasant Garden; Looking Glass Creamery, Fairview; Three Graces Dairy, Marshall.
All cheeses in the contest are on display in the Education Building. The N.C. State Fair takes place Oct. 11-21.
Source: North Carolina Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services
