Wisconsin’s Blakesville Creamery Wins Silver for Best Cheese in America

Blakesville Creamery’s Artze has been awarded has been awarded Second Place Best in Show at the 2026 American Cheese Society (ACS) Judging & Competition.

This recognition is an incredible honor and a testament to the passion, craftsmanship, and dedication we put into every wheel of cheese we make. The ACS Judging & Competition is one of the most respected cheese competitions in North America, making this award especially meaningful to our team.

Crafted from pasteurized sheep’s milk from Ms. J & Co. in Juda, Wisconsin, Artze is a soft-ripened lactic sheep cheese with a Geotrichum candidum (a.k.a. wrinkly) rind and dusted with just a hint of Piment d’Espelette. The buttery, creamy center reflects the exceptional quality of the milk produced by Mariana at Ms. J & Co, and the dusted pepper gives it a slightly sweet touch of spice.

We’re incredibly grateful to the American Cheese Society judges for this recognition and to our customers, retailers, and partners for supporting our mission to craft exceptional artisan sheep’s milk cheeses.

Thank you for being part of our journey. We can’t wait to share what’s next — and, of course, we hope you’ll celebrate with a piece of Artze!

In addition to the big win, we also took home a couple of additional medals:

• Artze, won Best in Class for Soft-Ripened with Flavor Added, All Milks
• St. Germain, won 2nd in Class in Goat’s Milk Cheese Aged Over 60 Days
• Llanes, won 3rd Place in Open Category, Soft-Ripened Cheeses made from Sheep’s Milk

Blakesville Creamery’s award-winning cheese can be found in restaurants and specialty food markets throughout the country.