Two Wisconsin cheeses named finalists, Switzerland cheesemaker wins third straight world championship
MADISON, Wis. (WFRV) – The state of Wisconsin showed out for the 2024 World Championship Cheese Contest, with a number of companies placing within the top three of their category.
There were several categories judged in the three-day event hosted at the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, such as cheddar that’s been aged two years or longer, baby Swiss style, cottage cheese, and even hard goat’s milk cheese.
Through all the categories, judges ranked each individually and then narrowed it down to the top 20 cheeses, with two Wisconsin cheeses qualifying.
In traditional waxed cheddar, sharp to aged, Henning’s Cheese in Kiel had its Aged Cheddar Midget make the top 20. Lake County Dairy in Turtle Lake was nominated for its Cello Artisan Copper Kettle Parmesan.
The World Champion was declared during a live-streamed event on Thursday, with cheeses from all across the globe.
With a score of 98.976, the 2024 World Champion was a cheese named Hornbacher, made by Michael Spycher from Mountain Dairy Fritzenhaus, based in Switzerland.
The cheese was in the rind/smear-ripened semi-soft (semi-hard) cheeses aged over four months.
It’s a three-peat for Spycher. In 2020, he and Mountain Dairy Fritzenhaus took home first place with a score of 98.81 for their Gourmino Le Gruyere AOP. In 2022, Spycher took first place with the same cheese as in 2020, this time with a rating of 98.423.
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Mountain Dairy Fritzenhaus took a risk in 2024 with a new cheese, but a risk that easily paid off.
For the entire results from the 2024 World Championship Cheese Contest, click here.
