Randolph, VT: Five Vermont Cheesemakers were honored in San Francisco on Monday when the Good Food Awards announced its 2017 nominees for the Good Food Awards. Along with the Vermont Cheese Council members, six long time artisan food exhibitors who participate in the annual Vermont Cheesemakers Festival were honored as well. Grafton Village Cheese Company received nominations for two of its artisan, hand-crafted cheeses: Bear Hill, a 100% sheep’s milk, washed-rind, alpine-style cheese and “Queen of Quality” Clothbound Cheddar,” an internationally-awarded, limited-supply clothbound cheddar made from grass-fed Jersey cow’s milk produced on Farms for City Kids Foundation/ Springbrook Farm in Reading, VT. Along with Grafton Village Cheese Company, four other cheesemakers were nominated including: Farms for City Kids Foundation/ Springbrook Farm for “Reading,” a raclette-style, washed-rind cow’s milk cheese; Parish Hill Creamery for “Kashar,” an aged Balkan-style, pasta filata or stretched curd cheese made from cow’s milk; Shelburne Farms for their “Clothbound Cheddar,” a cave-aged clothbound cheddar made from their award-winning Brown Swiss cow herd raised on grass and non-gmo grain; and Vermont Creamery for “Bonne Bouche,” an aged, 100% goat’s milk cheese with a geotrichum rind sprinkled with ash.
Local artisan food producers who were nominated for the Good Food Awards in Confections, Preserves, and Spirits included Big Picture Farm for its Farmstead Chocolate covered goat’s milk caramels and Farmstead Caramels, Fat Toad Farm for its Vanilla Bean Goat’s Milk Caramel Sauce and Spicy Dark Chocolate Caramel Sauce, Vermont Amber Organic Toffee for its Fennel Seed Toffee, Tonewood Maple for its Maple Cream, Blake Hill Preserves for its Gooseberry and Elderflower Preserves, Green Jam Man for his Honey Sage Pear Jam, Sumptuous Syrups of Vermont for its Farm to Bar Tart Cherry Rich Simple Syrup, and Stonecutter Spirits for its Single Barrel Gin.
The Good Food Awards celebrate authentic and responsibly produced foods in fourteen different categories: beer, cider, charcuterie, cheese, chocolate, coffee, confections, honey, pantry, pickles, preserves, spirits, oil and preserved fish. Awards are given to producers and their food communities from each of the five regions of the US. The Good Food Awards seal, found on winning products assures consumers that they have found an exceptional and delicious product that supports sustainability and social good within their communities.
The Vermont Cheese Council is a non-profit trade association with 50 members. Its mission is to promote and advance quality cheesemaking in Vermont. The Vermont Cheese Council prints The Vermont Cheese Trail Map and will host the 9th Annual Vermont Cheesemakers Festival on July 16, 2017. The Festival was recently named “Top Ten Summer Festival in Vermont” by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, a “Top Five Food Festivals to Plan Your Vacation Around” and Fodor’s Travel “Top Ten Summer Food Festivals in the United States.”
For additional information, contact: Tom Bivins, Executive Director for the Vermont Cheese Council, tom@vtcheese.com, 802-451-8654.
Source: Vermont Cheese Council
