Rogue Creamery’s Caveman Blue was named one of the top cheeses in the world at the 2014 World Cheese Awards in London, England, winning a Super Gold medal as one of the top 60 cheeses. Rogue’ Creamery’s Echo Mountain Blue was also honored with a Bronze medal. The World Cheese Awards is the largest and most respected competition of its type in the world. There were 250 judges who gathered to taste and score more than 2700 cheeses from 33 different countries this week. “I am honored to have our Caveman Blue selected as Super Gold from a collection of the finest cheeses in the world. It’s good to see a blue take the prize , and it’s an honor to be amongst this group of judges and industry legends including Roland Barthelemy ,Provost, of the Guilde des Fromagers who was honored today with the 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award ,” said David Gremmels Co-owner and Cheesemaker along with Cary Bryant.
Caveman Blue
Caveman Blue has won numerous international and national awards including 2nd Place at the 2013 American Cheese Society Awards in Wisconsin, Bronze Medal at the 2013 World Cheese Awards in the U.K. and the Bronze Medal at the 2011 Global Cheese Awards, U.K. It also won the Silver Medal in 2010 at the World Championship Cheese Contest in Wisconsin.
A rugged natural rind allows the Caveman to release a bit of moisture and develop a thick, buttery texture. During its maturation, luscious raw cow milk and blue cultures are transformed into a golden-hued paste that tastes of sweet, fresh buttermilk with hints of tropical fruit, grass and hay. The brand Caveman was used by the creamery as far back as the 1930’s; however, today’s wheels are the result of decades of careful research, tweaks and evaluations including the construction of a unique aging cave dedicated solely to these wheels.
About Rogue Creamery
Rogue Creamery’s blue cheese is handmade using milk from Brown Swiss and Holstein cows’ milk, certified sustainable by Food Alliance. The cows graze in 1650 foot elevation pastures along the Rogue River, where they eat a variety of grasses, wild herbs, and wild flowers supplemented with grass hay, alfalfa and grain grown on the ranch. The five pound (2.2 kg) wheels are made by hand and aged in specially-constructed caves. The cheese ripens from naturally occurring molds found in the Rogue River Valley and, therefore, reflects a deep connection to the land. The creamery also made history in 2007 by becoming the first American exporter of raw milk cheese to the EU; their cheese is carried in Whole Foods Market, Neal’s Yard Dairy, London and Fromagerie Laurent Dubois, Paris.
Rogue Creamery was founded in 1933. The Vella family from Sonoma, California acquired it from a co-op in Southern Oregon. In the 1950s it began making some of the country’s best blue cheese. In 2002, Ig Vella selected Cary Bryant and David Gremmels as the new owners, and they now produce a variety of award-winning blue, cheddar & TouVelle cheeses. They offer the only vertically integrated third party certified sustainable cheese in the U.S. Its local dairy, Rogue View, and creamery, Rogue Creamery, are both certified sustainable by Food Alliance and organic by Oregon Tilth.
Source: Rogue Creamery
